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The Africa Leadership Forum, in collaboration
with the UNDP, Regional Bureau for Africa, New York is organizing a
three-day meeting for CSOs from the African
regions.
The Ota Report (pdf)
The Nairobi Report (pdf)
 ECOSOCC is designed
as a coordination and networking tool for the participation of civil
society in the activities of the African Union. The launching has
thus paved way in an unprecedented manner for Civil Society
Organizations (CSOs) in Africa to continuously participate actively
in governance issues in Africa.
Having elected the
interim Standing
Committee and Officers during the inauguration, the major challenge
facing the interim Steering Committee and CSOs in Africa in general
remains the task of operationalising the new organ. It is
therefore imperative that consultative processes, which will
culminate in and guide elections of members at the national,
regional and Diaspora levels on the one hand and define requisite
framework and strategies for creating synergy between ECOSOCC and
other AU organs on the other hand, be initiated.
Similarly, NEPADs African Peer Review
Mechanism, operationalised in 2003, presents a unique opportunity
for civil society to engage in self-evaluatory processes in terms of
relevance and performance as well as participate actively in the
National Review processes of those states that have acceded. The
benefits for civil society and development in the APRM are
exponential.
In another vein, the Millennium
Development Goals, derived from the United Nations Millennium
Declaration and voluntarily adopted by over 189 countries, presents
another unique platform for synergy among African civil societies to
engage themselves. Can the MDGs also form or provide the basis for
an ECOSOCC engagement agenda? Lately concerns have been raised on
the reality of the target dates and indeed, the exact role of the
African civil society in the processes of meeting the MDGs.
Responding to the
needs and the questions posed, the Africa Leadership Forum, in
collaboration with the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, New York
organized a series of sub-regional meetings for civil society to
deliberate, make recommendations as well as set the agenda for a
regional meeting of African civil society on the matters arising.
The Central and African Meeting convened in Ota Ogun State Nigeria
in June, 2006, while the East African meeting held in Nairobi Kenya
in August. A similar meeting with slightly different programme was
organized by AFRODAD Harare, in Harare for civil society
organizations from the Southern Africa.
The Central,
Eastern and West African meeting were organized on the same platform
and objectives. The meetings were aimed at defining requisite
modalities and strategies for operationalising the ECOSOCC,
understanding the APRM as well as forging partnerships to pursue the
MDGs at the regional, sub-regional, national and Diaspora levels.
Specific
objectives of the meeting include:
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Review the
activities of ECOSOCC since its inauguration till date and
facilitate intensive discussion on its nature, importance and
operationalization;
-
Define the
appropriate framework and strategies that will guide ECOSOCC
interactions with the various organs of the African Union;
-
Examine the
APRM, its strengths and the opportunities for African civil
societies to engage with the process
-
Review the
status of the MDGs implementation in Africa, acquiesce
participants with its implementation processes and proffer
possible engagement platforms
-
Consider the
options and strategies for activating the various thematic
groups required for robust engagement of topical issues
-
Design the
appropriate National Networks and Feedback Mechanisms for the
ECOSOCC.
In rounding up the
meetings, the Africa Leadership Forum is organizing a meeting to
consider the reports of all the sub-regional meeting in order to set
an agenda.
For
more information, please contact Mr. Vitalis Ortese, Programme
Officer, Africa Leadership Forum, E-mail:
vitalis@africaleadership.org; Tel: 234 802 340 0030/234 722 730
and Fax: 234 39 722 751.
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