20th Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa to be held from March 23-24

The RCM will be held on the theme; United Nations system support for the African Union in commemorating 2019 as the Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards durable solutions to forced displacement in Africa.

All is set for the 20th Session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM) and the third meeting jointly organized with the Africa Regional United Nations Sustainable Development Group secretariat.

The session takes place in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 23 to 24 March 2019 on the margins of the 52nd session and Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.

The RCM will be held on the theme; United Nations system support for the African Union in commemorating 2019 as the Year of Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Towards durable solutions to forced displacement in Africa.

Giovani Biha, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, says the meeting will provide a platform for principals and senior officials of the African Union and United Nations to engage in high-level panel discussions on issues connected to the theme.

“This will help us generate solutions that will contribute to efforts aimed at addressing the challenge of refugees and internally displaced persons in Africa,” she said.

Participants will also discuss the Mechanism itself and the Africa Regional United Nations Sustainable Development Group platforms to assess achievements, challenges and the way forward in strengthening coherent and efficient UN support to the African Union and its organs.

“All this will be done in the context of ongoing African Union and United Nations reforms,” said Ms Biha, adding organizers hope at the end of the meeting there will be enhanced understanding and appreciation of the refugee and IDP situation in Africa.

Participants are expected to agree on ways to strengthen the functioning of the RCM and its sub-regional coordination mechanisms in the context of the African Union and United Nations reforms.

Also crucial is the need for consensus on aligning the work of the RCM and the Africa Regional United Nations Sustainable Development Group teams to the Joint African Union-United Nations Framework for an Enhanced Partnership in Peace and Security and the Framework for the integrated Implementation of Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

RCM-Africa is a platform for the UN system to support the African Union and its organs in the implementation of Africa's development priorities.

(With Inputs from APO)