From 1 to 4 March 2021, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the African Development Bank convened the seventh session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development in Congo Brazzaville, in a hybrid format featuring both in-person and online participation.
The seventh session was held on the theme: “Building forward better towards a resilient and green Africa to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063”. The forum brought together over 1800 participants drawn from various governments, development partners, United Nations bodies and specialized agencies, international organizations, and non-governmental organizations.
Prior to the main session of the consultation, Major Groups and Other Stakeholders held parallel sessions to build capacities of stakeholder groups on their role in drafting voluntary national and local review shadow reports and in contributing to official voluntary national and local reviews and the impact of COVID-19 on implementation of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063.
ADF and IDA actively engaged throughout these sessions, monitoring, collecting and disseminating key information to organizations of persons with disabilities and our community of practice to encourage their participation to influence the prioritization of persons with disabilities in the implementation of Agenda 2030 and Agenda 2063.
At the end of the four-day consultation, key messages were developed and adopted through the Brazzaville Declaration. Among other recommendations, the forum recognized that:
- High-quality data disaggregation by gender and disability are key in closing the digital divide and leaving no one behind, including minorities and other vulnerable groups,
- Social protection of vulnerable populations is key to reducing inequalities and achieving Goal 10 on reducing inequalities,
- Governments must strengthen national labour laws and policies to ensure that vulnerable and marginalized groups are protected to achieve Goal 8 targets on decent work,
These recommendations reinforce the findings and recommendations by the African Disability Forum (ADF) through its African regional report on the implementation of the SDGs and the CRPD for Women and Girls with Disabilities in Rwanda, Nigeria, Kenya, Mali and Niger.
