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NEW YORK. — Representatives of African Union (AU) member states on Monday voiced their countries’ special challenges in meeting the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and the AU’s similar Agenda 2063 targets, and considered possible answers to their concerns.

The representatives met in the AU’s mission to the United Nations, only a few meters from the UN headquarters, to hear from various entities of the world organization explaining sources of information, from which the representatives can take lessons home.

The African Union requested the session to be held alongside the High-level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development Goals being held from July 16 to 18 at the UN headquarters.

The session was aimed to learn from readily available information such as the Voluntary National Reviews (VNRs) conducted by AU member states. The states were asked to highlight “lessons learned and good practices” that include innovative processes, stakeholder engagement, coordination mechanisms and localisation.

Bartholomew Armah, chief of section for the UN Economic Commission on Africa (UNECA), said: “We have multiple agendas, we have to understand the extent that those agendas speak to each other,” and “this should be a prerequisite to integrating them into national plans.”

The representatives expressed the hope the event would help meet these challenges. Other event objectives include advocating favored policies, improving training, creating a platform for South-South networking, strengthened coordination by member states as well as improved capacity to conduct VNRs and implement new policies.

The event was supported by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA), the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the African Union Commission (AUC). It was proposed to build on the progress at the 4th session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) held in May this year in Dakar, Senegal. – Xinhua