President Kagame today addressed the official opening of the eighth session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD-8), hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (ECA) and the Government of Rwanda in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and other partners.
The 3-day Forum is being held under the theme “Building forward better: A green, inclusive and resilient Africa poised to achieve the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063.”
The Regional Forum brings together Ministers, senior officials, experts and practitioners from UN member States, private sector, civil society, academia, and UN organisations to undertake integrated follow-up and review of the Sustainable Development Goals and the goals of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want, of the African Union.
Today’s opening ceremony will also feature remarks from H.E. Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the UN, Dr. Vera Songwe, Under-Secretary-General of the UN & Executive Secretary of ECA and Mr. Collen Kelapile, UN ECOSOC President and Permanent Representative of Botswana to the UN as well as Hon. Arlette Soudan-Nonault, Minister of Environment, Sustainable Development and the Congo Basin who is the outgoing chair of the Regional Forum.
Rwanda takes over the chair of the 5-member bureau of the Regional Forum represented by Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning.