Finance Ministers Reiterate Commitment to Millennium Development Goals
ECA Press Release No. 07/2008
Addis Ababa, 03 April 2008 (ECA) - African Ministers of Finance concluded their meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Wednesday with a statement reaffirming their commitment to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa by 2015.
The three-day meeting, which ran from 31 st March to 2 nd April, addressed new challenges facing Africa in the 21 st century, and the new international economic environment within which they must be tackled.
The concluding statement notes that while economic growth in Africa has been over 5% in recent years, this has not yet translated into job creation and poverty reduction on a wide scale.
“There is therefore need to implement strategies to achieve sustained, shared and broad-based growth in order to accelerate
progress towards the MDGs and effectively confront the challenges of the 21 st century,” the statement reads in part.
Noting that knowledge is a critical factor in the new world economy, the ministers committed to mobilizing resources to improve the quality of overall education, with a specific emphasis on research and development; and science and technology.
The ministers also noted with concern the rising price of oil and foodstuff. They urged the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank to conduct a feasibility study on establishing an African Oil Fund, which would provide assistance to low-income oil-importing African countries to mitigate the effects of high oil prices. Ministers also committed to undertake “vigorous measures” to implement the comprehensive African agricultural development programme.
Another major issue of discussion was climate change, where ministers committed to “effectively integrate and implement climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies into our national and regional development frameworks.” They endorsed an ECA initiative to establish the African Climate Policy Centre, which will be the policy arm of the Clim-Dev Africa programme.
Ministers adopted resolutions covering financing for development, climate change, research and development, and endorsed the Economic Commission for Africa's proposed strategic framework for the 2010 – 2011 biennium.
The full resolution can be found at www.uneca.org/cfm/2008
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