The United Nations (UN) and the African Union (AU) have ramped up their efforts to align Africa’s Agenda 2063 with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. Ms. Botho Bayendi, Director of the Office of Strategic Planning and Delivery at the AU Commission, highlighted this initiative, known as “Two Agendas, One Framework,” in a statement released by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).
The goal of the initiative is to harmonize Africa’s long-term development plan with global SDGs, ensuring more effective implementation at the national level.
Bayendi made the comments during the ongoing 11th Session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, which began on April 7 and runs through April 12 in Addis Ababa. The forum’s theme is “Accelerating Transformation through the Implementation of Agenda 2063’s Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan (STYIP) alongside the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
She emphasized that the current realities necessitate enhanced cooperation between the UN and the AU, as both organizations share similar development objectives. Similarly, Said Adejumobi, Director of the Strategic Planning, Oversight and Results Division (SPORD) at UNECA, noted that Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030 have an 80% convergence rate, underscoring the need for joint efforts in their implementation.
Adejumobi further explained that the UN system, through its Resident Coordinators in African countries, would lead the implementation of STYIP at the national level, following the “Two Agendas, One Framework” approach.
Mr. Yacoub El-Hillo, Regional Director of the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), lauded the collaboration between the AU and UN, citing the “College-to-College” strategic approach as a major success in coordinating efforts across peace, security, development, and humanitarian sectors. He emphasized that the partnership holds substantial promise for Africa’s 1.5 billion people, calling for unified action to drive the continent’s progress.
Ambassador Maes Ennio of Côte d’Ivoire, representing Agenda 2063 Champion President Alhassan Ouattara, pointed out that the synergy between the UN and AU could be pivotal for Africa’s transformation. He also highlighted the 2018 Memorandum of Understanding between UN Secretary-General António Guterres and AU Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, which remains central to the joint efforts of aligning the two agendas.
El-Hillo further explained that the forum’s side event aims to integrate STYIP priorities into the UN Country Teams’ Common Country Analyses (CCAs) and Cooperation Frameworks (CFs), ensuring that national development plans align with both Agenda 2063 and Agenda 2030.
The meeting, which gathered all UN Resident Coordinators across Africa alongside key development partners, was jointly organized by the AU Commission, UNECA, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), AUDA-NEPAD, and the UN Development Coordination Office (DCO), under the Technical Working Group for the Second Ten-Year Implementation Plan (STYIP).
The STYIP, which outlines Africa’s development vision from 2024 to 2033, is designed to align with the UN’s global development goals, promoting coherence in national development plans across African member states.
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