Sixth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development: still a long way to go
“About 35% of the African population lives under the poverty line, says Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). Africa has the biggest number of poor people. We want to make sure that by the time we reach 2030, we don’t have those numbers anymore. […] For us to do that, we need to have a conversation with everybody.”
The 6th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development took place last week in Zimbabwe. This year’s theme was 2020–2030, a Decade to Deliver a Transformed and Prosperous Africa Through the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. The point was “to share experiences and build consensus on how Africa can accelerate the implementation” of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals established by the member states of the United Nations.
After four days of discussions, the conclusion is clear: even though there has been progress on some issues such as poverty, health, gender equality and literacy, it is still not enough for Africa to reach the sustainable goals set by the UN for 2030. Some of the major issues lie in important demographic growth, a lack of access to decent jobs, education and health care. Overall, women and younger men and women are the most affected by those remaining disparities.
For this reason, it has been agreed by the member states and partners that 2020 needs to be a decade of action. Here are only a few of the recommendations made so that Africa could achieve the goals by 2030:
- African states should invest in new technologies that can help to meet the needs of the population.
- Poverty and inequality should be fought together.
- The governments should take measures to stimulate job creation, increase household revenue, improve infrastructures and strengthen human capital.
- Everyone should be concerned about sustainable development, not only the officials. Global approaches that include all the layers of power are essential.
In this context, Vollar could be seen as a tool to increase household revenue, gain new skills through training, create job experience and improve access to basic necessities. Invited as a guest speaker to the ADM Growth Summit, Liam Smith, Vollar’s chief research officer, will explain how Vollar can help to reach the United Nations sustainable development goals by 2030. The conference will be held in East London from the 9th until the 12th of March.
For more information on Vollar, check out our website
http://vollar.org
