2nd August 2012
Fourteen Pan African religious and development organisations react to UN Secretary-General Appointment of the High Level Panel on Post 2015 Development Agenda
Fourteen local, national and international organisations working across Africa on the Millennium Development Goals today welcomed the appointment of four African leaders namely Betty Maina, (Chief Executive of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers) and Graca Machel (Current Member of The Elders), Fulbert Gero Amoussouga (The head of the Economic Analysis Unit of the President of the Republic of Benin and the Current Chair of the African Union) and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Hon Minister of Finance for the Republic of Nigeria) to the High Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda by the UN Secretary General.
The UN High Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Agenda of 26 equal co-chairs has been established to accelerate the implementation of the existing Millennium Development Goals set to expire in 2015 and draft a new set of global development goals to replace them.
The organisations welcomed the announcements, many of them women as significant. Dinah Musindarwezo, Director of the African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET) says on behalf of the organisations, “This is an excellent first step towards placing African women and leaders at the centre of setting the Agenda for Development Post-2015.”
The civil society organisations are looking forward to working closely with the four Africans and the other 22 High Level Panellists. Mwangi Waituru, African co-chair of the Beyond2015 coalition and the Global Call to Action Against Poverty notes, “The Panel and especially the African members of the High level panel must ensure that there is an agenda that focuses on securing and managing African resources to eradicate poverty for men and women across Africa.”
The organisations would also like to encourage the High Level Panel to facilitate an open and inclusive process that ensures African citizens define and participate meaningfully in the future that they want. They argue that the new Post MDG Agenda must have human rights, equity and gender equality at its centre. Overcoming poverty and generate prosperity will never be attained unless structural causes exacerbating the growing inequalities across the continent are addressed.
The organisations also cautioned against new conversations to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that do not address the fact that many African countries are still unlikely to meet the commitments made in 2000. Irũngũ Houghton Oxfam’s Pan Africa Director argues, “The High Level Panel needs to accelerate the implementation of the existing MDGs while setting a bold global agenda. Without political commitment in completing the MDGs, there will be no integrity in designing a new set of goals.”
Statement is signed by ABANTU for Development Action Aid International African Women’s Development and Communications Network (FEMNET) Agency for Corporation and Research in Development (ACORD) CAFOD Global call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) and, beyond 2015 Alliance Justice, Development and Peace Commission, the Justice, Development and Peace Commission of the Catholic Diocese of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, -Nigeria Kariobangi South Welfare & Slums Housing association (KASWESHA Housing Cooperative Society), Nigeria Network of NGOs Oxfam Pan-Africa Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) Plan International Solidarity for African Women’s Rights coalition
Notes to Editors:
Press Contact Shukri Gesod Gender Justice Lead-Pan-Africa Programme Oxfam GB 3rd Floor, The Atrium. Chaka Road, Kilimani P.O. Box 40680, GPO (00100), Nairobi, Kenya. Cell: +254-(0) 731178158 Email: SGesod@oxfam.org.uk Skype: shukrigesod Web: http://www.oxfam.org