Veena Annadana
New Member
15. In the field of education, we will maintain and strengthen our joint efforts to achieve universal basic education, and reinforce institutional and professional capacities to achieve the objectives of the action plan of the Second Decade for Education in Africa. To promote education at all levels, we will launch the African Higher Education Harmonisation through the revised Arusha Convention and Tuning project this Autumn and will support the Association for the Development of Education in Africa, including the Ouagadougou conference of November 2011.
16. We will also strengthen our efforts for accelerated progress in the field of health, including women's and children's health, HIV/AIDS, and e-health. We emphasise our firm commitment to strengthening our cooperation in the fields of gender equality and women empowerment and take note of the African Women's Decade Implementation as the continental framework. We are also committed to reinforce the cultural dimension in our cooperation.
17. We recognise that generalised access to energy constitutes a pre-requisite to meet most MDGs and is a motor for growth. Therefore, we reaffirm our commitment to the existing initiatives such as the EU-Africa Energy Partnership and the Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme.
F. ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
18. We welcome the results of the Cancun Conference as a balanced package and need to continue negotiations so that the upcoming Durban Conference can fully operationalise the Cancun Agreements. We take note and support efforts aimed at the finalisation of the joint Africa-EU declaration on Climate Change initiated last year.
19. Alarmed by the recent figures showing increasing global emissions of green house gases, we call upon all parties with major emissions to step up their mitigation efforts in order to close the serious gap to reach the 2 degree objective as agreed in Cancun. We urge developed country Parties to increase the ambition of their economy-wide emission reduction targets and support developing countries to adapt to climate change by providing adequate and predictable financial resources as well as technologies. We also urge the developing country parties to enhance their mitigation actions.
20. As 2011 is the year of the African Conference of the Parties, special focus needs to be paid to the implementation of the Adaptation Framework, namely establishment of the Adaptation Committee and further progress on the work programme on loss and damage, which are important issues for both EU and Africa. We note that the EU is meeting its commitments on fast start funding and is making this funding available to Africa in accordance with the African Group's proposals presented in Copenhagen.
21. We welcome the progress on the Green Development Fund, which has great potential to mobilise climate funding efficiently and effectively for Africa. We note that African states account for most of the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements with the EU and look forward to their full implementation. We will also seek to maximise the synergies between FLEGT and REDD+ strategies.
22. On the environment, we recognise that biodiversity loss is one of the major challenges of the 21st century for both the African continent and the EU and agree to strengthen our co-operation to ensure that healthy ecosystems and biodiversity continue to provide goods and services essential for the prosperity and well-being of all nations.
23. We regard the Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio next year, with its focus on green economy and link to poverty reduction, as a unique opportunity for the world to advance it commitments to sustainable development and address today's environmental and social challenges.
G. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY
24. We will continue our joint efforts in the fields of agriculture, food safety and food security and acknowledge their potential for promoting economic growth and sustainable development. In this context, we strengthen our resolve to accelerate the implementation of the Africa Land Policy Guidelines and support the process of establishing international guidelines on access to land and other natural resources. We express our satisfaction on the establishment of the Pan-African Farmers Forum and agree that a continuation and scaling up of EU support to African Farmers Organisations will be most useful to advance on Africa's agricultural agenda.
25. We agree that an increase in financing for agricultural research for development is essential and that such research needs to be driven by the needs of farmers and well linked to national agricultural research and extension systems. We recognise the importance of organic farming and we will build on the process to establish an African organic farming platform. In this context, we welcome the Organic Farming workshop in July 2011 as a good opportunity to exchange best practices and guidance in support of the development of sustainable organic farming systems in Africa.
26. Regarding geographical indications (GI), we welcome the first meeting in the second half of 2011 in Kampala, which allows us to disseminate knowledge, share experiences and address challenges to the GI system for African farmers, fishermen, and agri-food producers wishing to access the GI system.
27. Furthermore, in view of the upcoming G20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting in June, the African Union Commission will pronounce that the international community must remain vigilant on price movements and their effects at local and regional level, and on small farmers in particular. The Action Plan, which must be endorsed by Agriculture Ministers, should also be sensitive to the realities of Africa. It should particularly address the question of how Africa can feed itself, support responsible agricultural investments, improve sustainable production systems, promote value chains and design risk management tools.
H. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
28. We will cooperate to maximise the potential benefits of Science, Technology and Innovation for poverty reduction, growth and socio-economic development. In this context, we will secure substantial investments for strengthening African capacities in these fields. In addition, we welcome the first Senior Officials Meeting of the Africa-EU High level Science and TechnologyPolicy Dialogue in Addis Ababa on 10-11 October 2011, which will further consolidate our joint scientific and technological cooperation.
29. We reaffirm our commitment to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and Africa initiative, and agree on the importance to advance on the finalisation and adoption of the GMES and Africa Action Plan, reflecting the needs of African users. The AU Commission will drive this process forward in full consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Coordination Taskforce. Since GMES and Africa initiative is focused on applications, the AU Commission confirms that all potential beneficiaries within the AU Commission, the RECs and the African Member States will be fully engaged in the GMES and Africa process.
30. Furthermore, we confirm our on-going support in principle for the African Space Agency project and for the establishment of a Space Sciences Institute in the context of the Pan-African University.
31. We remain committed to our cooperation in the Information Society domain, notably through scaling-up initiatives launched under the Action Plan 2008-2010, exploiting synergies between the EU Digital Agenda and the AU ICT development frameworks, and fostering deployment of innovative e-services to fast-track African development in all socio-economic sectors.
I. INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING AND BILATERAL COOPERATION
32. We will foster our bilateral technical and administrative cooperation, including twinning and exchange arrangements between our services. In particular, we will advance our joint efforts in the fields of human resources policy, IT security, communication, financial management capacity ?accountancy standards, internal control standards and internal audit? and budgeting. Our meeting allowed for the exchange of experiences and best practices in the field of administrative cooperation as well as strengthening our institutional ties, predominantly via the staff exchange program. In this context, we are pleased with the excellent and fruitful cooperation and progress made since 2006. The AUC and EC also signed a recently developed Aide Memoire that addresses current challenges and sets out joint measures to strengthen the AUC financial management and EU-AU cooperation.
ACHIEVING RESULTS
The political and operational impetus provided by the two Commissions remains instrumental for the success of the Africa-EU Partnership. But the Commissions cannot deliver alone - all other stakeholders from the two continents, Member States, RECs, Parliaments, private sector, civil society, local authorities and media are invited to join our efforts to foster the implementation of the Action Plan 2011-13 of the Joint Strategy and to deliver visible results to the citizens of our continents. Last but not least, our discussions addressed the issue of securing adequate and predictable resources for the effective implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) and its successive Action Plans.
Finally, we agreed to meet again in 2012 in Addis Ababa
Source: Press Release-EU and AU Joint Declaration-June 1, 2011
16. We will also strengthen our efforts for accelerated progress in the field of health, including women's and children's health, HIV/AIDS, and e-health. We emphasise our firm commitment to strengthening our cooperation in the fields of gender equality and women empowerment and take note of the African Women's Decade Implementation as the continental framework. We are also committed to reinforce the cultural dimension in our cooperation.
17. We recognise that generalised access to energy constitutes a pre-requisite to meet most MDGs and is a motor for growth. Therefore, we reaffirm our commitment to the existing initiatives such as the EU-Africa Energy Partnership and the Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme.
F. ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE
18. We welcome the results of the Cancun Conference as a balanced package and need to continue negotiations so that the upcoming Durban Conference can fully operationalise the Cancun Agreements. We take note and support efforts aimed at the finalisation of the joint Africa-EU declaration on Climate Change initiated last year.
19. Alarmed by the recent figures showing increasing global emissions of green house gases, we call upon all parties with major emissions to step up their mitigation efforts in order to close the serious gap to reach the 2 degree objective as agreed in Cancun. We urge developed country Parties to increase the ambition of their economy-wide emission reduction targets and support developing countries to adapt to climate change by providing adequate and predictable financial resources as well as technologies. We also urge the developing country parties to enhance their mitigation actions.
20. As 2011 is the year of the African Conference of the Parties, special focus needs to be paid to the implementation of the Adaptation Framework, namely establishment of the Adaptation Committee and further progress on the work programme on loss and damage, which are important issues for both EU and Africa. We note that the EU is meeting its commitments on fast start funding and is making this funding available to Africa in accordance with the African Group's proposals presented in Copenhagen.
21. We welcome the progress on the Green Development Fund, which has great potential to mobilise climate funding efficiently and effectively for Africa. We note that African states account for most of the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements with the EU and look forward to their full implementation. We will also seek to maximise the synergies between FLEGT and REDD+ strategies.
22. On the environment, we recognise that biodiversity loss is one of the major challenges of the 21st century for both the African continent and the EU and agree to strengthen our co-operation to ensure that healthy ecosystems and biodiversity continue to provide goods and services essential for the prosperity and well-being of all nations.
23. We regard the Conference on Sustainable Development in Rio next year, with its focus on green economy and link to poverty reduction, as a unique opportunity for the world to advance it commitments to sustainable development and address today's environmental and social challenges.
G. AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY
24. We will continue our joint efforts in the fields of agriculture, food safety and food security and acknowledge their potential for promoting economic growth and sustainable development. In this context, we strengthen our resolve to accelerate the implementation of the Africa Land Policy Guidelines and support the process of establishing international guidelines on access to land and other natural resources. We express our satisfaction on the establishment of the Pan-African Farmers Forum and agree that a continuation and scaling up of EU support to African Farmers Organisations will be most useful to advance on Africa's agricultural agenda.
25. We agree that an increase in financing for agricultural research for development is essential and that such research needs to be driven by the needs of farmers and well linked to national agricultural research and extension systems. We recognise the importance of organic farming and we will build on the process to establish an African organic farming platform. In this context, we welcome the Organic Farming workshop in July 2011 as a good opportunity to exchange best practices and guidance in support of the development of sustainable organic farming systems in Africa.
26. Regarding geographical indications (GI), we welcome the first meeting in the second half of 2011 in Kampala, which allows us to disseminate knowledge, share experiences and address challenges to the GI system for African farmers, fishermen, and agri-food producers wishing to access the GI system.
27. Furthermore, in view of the upcoming G20 Agriculture Ministers' meeting in June, the African Union Commission will pronounce that the international community must remain vigilant on price movements and their effects at local and regional level, and on small farmers in particular. The Action Plan, which must be endorsed by Agriculture Ministers, should also be sensitive to the realities of Africa. It should particularly address the question of how Africa can feed itself, support responsible agricultural investments, improve sustainable production systems, promote value chains and design risk management tools.
H. SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
28. We will cooperate to maximise the potential benefits of Science, Technology and Innovation for poverty reduction, growth and socio-economic development. In this context, we will secure substantial investments for strengthening African capacities in these fields. In addition, we welcome the first Senior Officials Meeting of the Africa-EU High level Science and TechnologyPolicy Dialogue in Addis Ababa on 10-11 October 2011, which will further consolidate our joint scientific and technological cooperation.
29. We reaffirm our commitment to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and Africa initiative, and agree on the importance to advance on the finalisation and adoption of the GMES and Africa Action Plan, reflecting the needs of African users. The AU Commission will drive this process forward in full consultation with relevant stakeholders, including the Coordination Taskforce. Since GMES and Africa initiative is focused on applications, the AU Commission confirms that all potential beneficiaries within the AU Commission, the RECs and the African Member States will be fully engaged in the GMES and Africa process.
30. Furthermore, we confirm our on-going support in principle for the African Space Agency project and for the establishment of a Space Sciences Institute in the context of the Pan-African University.
31. We remain committed to our cooperation in the Information Society domain, notably through scaling-up initiatives launched under the Action Plan 2008-2010, exploiting synergies between the EU Digital Agenda and the AU ICT development frameworks, and fostering deployment of innovative e-services to fast-track African development in all socio-economic sectors.
I. INSTITUTIONAL CAPACITY BUILDING AND BILATERAL COOPERATION
32. We will foster our bilateral technical and administrative cooperation, including twinning and exchange arrangements between our services. In particular, we will advance our joint efforts in the fields of human resources policy, IT security, communication, financial management capacity ?accountancy standards, internal control standards and internal audit? and budgeting. Our meeting allowed for the exchange of experiences and best practices in the field of administrative cooperation as well as strengthening our institutional ties, predominantly via the staff exchange program. In this context, we are pleased with the excellent and fruitful cooperation and progress made since 2006. The AUC and EC also signed a recently developed Aide Memoire that addresses current challenges and sets out joint measures to strengthen the AUC financial management and EU-AU cooperation.
ACHIEVING RESULTS
The political and operational impetus provided by the two Commissions remains instrumental for the success of the Africa-EU Partnership. But the Commissions cannot deliver alone - all other stakeholders from the two continents, Member States, RECs, Parliaments, private sector, civil society, local authorities and media are invited to join our efforts to foster the implementation of the Action Plan 2011-13 of the Joint Strategy and to deliver visible results to the citizens of our continents. Last but not least, our discussions addressed the issue of securing adequate and predictable resources for the effective implementation of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy (JAES) and its successive Action Plans.
Finally, we agreed to meet again in 2012 in Addis Ababa
Source: Press Release-EU and AU Joint Declaration-June 1, 2011