Namibia at the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development

The ARFSD is an annual multi-stakeholder platform, mandated by the General Assembly of the United Nations. The regional forum is one of the three mechanisms mandated to follow-up, review and catalyse actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted by UN Member States in September 2015.

The other mechanisms are the Voluntary National Reviews (VNR) and the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF)  at the global level, during which Namibia participated in 2021.

The ARFSD is organized jointly by the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) and the Host Government in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other entities of the United Nations System. It brings together Ministers, senior officials, experts and practitioners from UN member States, private sector, civil society, academia, and UN organisations.

The overall objective of the eighth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development is to conduct a regional follow-up and review of progress made, facilitate peer learning, and advance transformative solutions and actions to accelerate implementation of Agenda 2030, the SDGs and aspirations, goals and targets of Agenda 2063.

Accordingly, the 8th and 2022 Forum was organized jointly by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of the Republic of Rwanda in collaboration with partners in Kigali Rwanda, 3- 5 March, under the theme “Building forward better: a green, inclusive and resilient Africa poised to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.”

Namibia’s delegation at the Forum convened in Kigali included:

1. Hon. Ester Anna Nghipondoka, Minister of Education, Arts and Culture
   
   Participated during the Joint Meeting of H.E Amina J. Mohammed (Deputy Secretary General of the UN), with all Ministers present at the ARFSD
   
   Participated as Panelist during the Parallel meetings for an in-depth review of progress made and peer learning on the sub-themes of the Regional Forum: Parallel meeting on the sub-theme of quality education
2. Hon. Emma Theofelus, Deputy Minister of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT)
   
   Participated during the Joint Meeting of H.E Amina J. Mohammed (Deputy Secretary General of the UN), with all Ministers present at the ARFSD
   
   Participated as Panelist during the preparatory and capacity-development workshop for major groups and other stakeholders in the African region for the eighth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development
3. Ms. Rosetta Nawases, Lecturer: International Relations, University of Namibia
   
   Presented on Realizing 2030 Agenda through inclusive economic transformation during Covid-19: Case of Namibia during the Plenary round-table panels on national and subnational actions and reviews to build forward better and accelerate delivery of sustainable development in Africa: Voluntary national reviews and peer learning to strengthen country-level intervention 
4. Mr. Festus Hangula, Researcher- APRM Namibia National Secretariat
   
   Presented on Strengthening Voluntary Local Reviews to Accelerate Delivery of Sustainable Development during the Plenary roundtable panel on national and subnational actions and reviews: Voluntary subnational reviews and peer learning to bolster local action

In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, the 8th ARFSD focused on five SDGs, to be considered at the upcoming 2022 High Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development, and the corresponding goals of the first ten-year implementation plan of Agenda 2063.  

The selected five SDGs for the regional follow-up  and review of the implementation include – Goal 4 (quality education), Goal 5 (gender equality), Goal 14 (life below water), Goal 15 (life on land) and Goal 17 (partnerships for the Goals) and the corresponding goals of Agenda 2063. The review also considered linkages with other SDGS and development frameworks including the Paris Agreement on climate change; the SIDS Accelerated Modalities of Action (SAMOA Pathway); the Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction; the Convention on Biological Diversity; and frameworks on gender and women’s empowerment.

Agreed key messages from the ARFSD will then be transmitted to the annual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) for follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

Namibia together with Rwanda, Cape Verde, Morocco and Congo Brazaville were nominated and are to serve as the Bureau for the 9th Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development.