Burkina Faso to host 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts for West Africa

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Published on United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (http://www.uneca.org)

Home > Burkina Faso to host 20th session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts for West Africa

Niamey, Niger, 16 April 2017 (ECA) – The Economic Commission for Africa’s Sub-Regional Office for West Africa and the Government of Burkina Faso will in May co-host the 20th Session of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts (ICE) for West Africa in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

The ICE would be held from May 18-19 under the theme; “Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and Agenda 2063 in West Africa: The role of development

planning”.

“This meeting is being held at a time when many countries of our sub-region are working on formulating or finalising their national development plans," said Director of the ECA

Sub-Regional Office for West Africa, Dimitri Sanga.

"The results of our discussions will certainly contribute to supporting the efforts underway in these countries to internalise the regional and international commitments in these plans for the benefit of the people of West Africa, through the exchange of best practices with countries which have engaged in this exercise”.

Participants will spend the two days discussing how the region is doing in implementing the two crucial agendas, especially the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the world fights to eradicate all forms of poverty and improve the people’s well-being.

The meeting will look at recent trends that impacted the economic and social development of West African countries to identify the main challenges that need to be tackled and come up with recommendations that will accelerate growth and the economic transformation of the

sub-region.

The ICE, a body set up by the United Nations General Assembly, brings together high-level decision-makers from Member States annually to discuss economic and social performance in a region and also propose relevant actions needed to improve the situation in the form of

recommendations.

It also reviews activities and supervises the development and general implementation of the sub-region’s Programme of Work, including the formulation of priority objectives.

The ICE will be preceded by an Ad Hoc Experts’ Group Meeting, also set for Ouagadougou on May 16-17, 2017. This meeting will be held under the theme; “Impact of the Economic

Partnership Agreements and the ECOWAS Common External Tariff on the structural

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transformation and the dynamics of integration in West Africa”.

Delegates from 15 West African States will attend the 20th Session of the ICE. High-level representatives and experts from ECOWAS, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), the Mano River Union (MRU) and other Inter-Governmental Organisations in the sub-region are also expected to attend.

Officials from the African Development Bank (AFDB), the World Bank and NEPAD will also attend the meeting as will representatives from other United Nations agencies.

Note to editors

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is one of five regional commissions of the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC). The mission of its Office for West Africa is to support the development of the 15 countries of the sub-region (Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo) by helping them to formulate and implement policies and programmes able to contribute to their economic and social transformation.

The ICE is a body set up by the United Nations General Assembly. Every year it gathers together high-level decision-makers from Member States with the goal not only of debating economic and social performance and proposing relevant recommendations, but also of reviewing the activities of the Office and supervising the development and general

implementation of its Programme of Work, including the formulation of priority objectives for the sub-region. In this way, the ICE provides guidelines for the programmes of the Office by

ensuring the best integration of sub-regional priorities and by making recommendations in order to resolve issues that affect the economic and social development of the sub-region. These recommendations may, if necessary, be examined by the joint meetings of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the ECA Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

In West Africa, the ICE meets annually to debate economic and social performance on the basis of working documents prepared by the Sub-Regional Office for West Africa of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA/SRO-WA).

The ICE is hosted every year, at its request, by a Member State of the sub-region.

Please join the conversation on @ECA_Official hashtag #ICEWA20

For more information, please contact: Tahirou Gouro, Communications Officer, ECA- SRO/WA,

mob: +227 90 99 99 39, Email: tgouro@uneca.org ^[1]

About the ICE, please visit: http://www.uneca.org/20th-ice-west-africa^[2]

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Communications Section

Economic Commission for Africa PO Box 3001

Addis Ababa Ethiopia

Tel: +251 11 551 5826

E-mail: ecainfo@uneca.org^[3]

Source URL: http://www.uneca.org/stories/burkina-faso-host-20th-session-intergovernmental-committee-experts- west-africa

Links

[1] mailto:tgouro@uneca.org

[2] http://www.uneca.org/20th-ice-west-africa [3] mailto:ecainfo@uneca.org

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