OREANDA-NEWS. September 25, 2015. Decision-makers and a wide range of stakeholders from Africa will gather to discuss critical issues around the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). African countries have made significant progress on the MDGs, increasing the numbers of women in parliaments, reducing maternal, infant, and HIV-related deaths, and placing more children in primary schools.

However, the continent is also characterized by unequal access to social services, high unemployment, and vulnerability to shocks. As the world inaugurates the SDGs, participants will discuss the lessons and implications for the next 15 years.

The event will conclude with the launch of “Assessing progress in Africa towards the Millennium Development Goals”, the last of a series of yearly MDG reports co-published by the African Union (AU), the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

What:   High-level side event on the MDGs and the SDGs

When:   Monday, September 28, 2015 at 10AM-1PM EST

Where:  Permanent Observer Mission of the AU to the UN - 305 East 47th Street 5th floor 3 Dag Hammarskjold plaza

Who:      Akinwumi Adesina, President, AfDB
               Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson, AU Commission
               Secretary-General, OECD
               H.E. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, President of the Republic of Liberia
               Carlos Lopes, Executive Secretary, ECA
               Abdoulaye Mar Dieye, Director, UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa

For more information, or media interviews, please contact:

  • UNDP: Nicolas Douillet, Communications Specialist, UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa, tel: +1 (212) 906 5937
  • AfDB: Nawsheen Elaheebocus, Communications Specialist, Human Development Department, tel: +225 7730 6662, +225 0611 7045
  • ECA: Mercy Wambui, Acting Head, Communication Section, tel. +251 911201816;

To RSVP please contact: Nicolas Douillet. For media accreditation (media not accredited to the UN is also invited), please refer to: http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/.