Ethiopia: 11th Regional Forum On Sustainable Development to Focus On Implementation of SDGs, Agenda 2063
Addis Ababa, — — The Eleventh Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-11) is set to take place in Kampala, Uganda, from April 9 to April 11, 2025 preceded by pre-events, such as the Africa Regional Science, Technology and Innovation Forum.
This multi-stakeholder forum will be jointly organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Uganda, in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank, and various United Nations agencies.
Under the theme “Driving job creation and economic growth through sustainable, inclusive, science-and evidence-based solutions for the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063,” ARFSD-11 aims to address the pressing need for concerted action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
With only five years left to meet these ambitious targets, the Forum represents a crucial opportunity to catalyze real change on the Continent, according to a statement issued by ECA.
While some progress has been registered on the SDGs as reported in voluntary reviews, the organizing experts worry that Africa, like many parts of the world, is currently off track with most SDG targets and has even seen regression in certain areas.
The Forum is being held at a critical time when commitments to enhance the pace of implementation across the continent need to be revitalized. African States need to take bold, ambitious and accelerated transformative measures to improve development outcomes.
As part of the ARFSD, countries will participate in a Regional preparatory workshop for African voluntary national reviews and voluntary local reviews, with the aim of strengthening peer-to-peer learning and sharing best practices and success stories in addressing common challenges that are specific to Africa.
Furthermore, there is the urgency to implement the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan of Agenda 2063, as it directly aligns with the overarching goals of the 2030 Agenda, with ambitions known as “moonshots” which include the attainment of at least middle-income status and the amicable resolution of conflicts in Africa by 2044.
The annual Forum also comes against the outcomes of the 2024 Summit of the Future and the need to push concrete actions for the implementation of the Summit’s outcomes.
Additionally, the Forum will serve as a preparatory meeting for the Second World Summit for Social Development, set to be held in Qatar in November 2025. This alignment emphasizes the importance of Africa’s collective voice on global platforms.
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