President Paul Kagame is presiding over the official opening of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-8) at the Kigali Convention Centre. The forum, happening for the eighth time will be held under the theme ‘Bulding forward better: A green, inclusive and resilient Africa poised to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.’ ARFSD-8 is organized by the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) and the Government of Rwanda in collaboration with the African Union Commission (AUC), the African Development Bank (AfDB), among other partners. President Kagame is joined by various guests including Ministers, senior officials, high-level policymakers and experts from ministries. Also part of the audience is the business community, civil society, academia, and UN organizations. Unique to Africa, the ARFSD is the only Forum focusing on continental and global sustainable development goals. According to a statement from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, participants will undertake a follow-up and a review of both the United Nations SDGs and the African Union Agenda 2063, as the two Agenda provide a synergistic framework for achieving inclusive and people-centered sustainable development in the region. ARFSD-8 will focus on the implementation of five selected SDGs and Agenda 2063 goals; identify strategies and policy actions to build back better from COVID-19 and dramatically scale up implementation in 2021-2030. During the meeting, participants will also deliberate and agree on Africa’s collective input to the 2022 meeting of HLPF to be held in New York in July 2022. This will be based on an outcome document from the Forum, consisting of Africa’s priorities and policy recommendations to accelerate the implementation of the two agendas.
