New Partnership for Africa's Development Agency (NEPAD)

NEPAD PLANNING AND COORDINATING AGENCY
P.O. Box 218 Midrand, 1685, Gauteng, Johannesburg, South Africa
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NEPAD
CEO
Remarks
to
the
Side
Event
at
the
United
Nations
Summit
to
adopt
the
post-­‐
2015
development
agenda
ON
“LAUNCHING
THE
TECHNOLOGY
FACILITATION
MECHANISM
FOR
ACHIEVING
SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT
GOALS”
26
September
2015,
Conference
Room
12,
UN
Headquarters,
New
York
• The
African
Union
welcomes
the
launch
of
the
Technology
Facilitation
Mechanism
for
achieving
sustainable
development
goals.
As
we
move
from
the
MDGs
to
the
SDGs,
the
role
of
science,
technology
and
innovation
as
key
drivers
of
socio-­‐
economic
development
in
Africa
is
well
articulated
at
national,
regional
and
continental
levels.
The
Common
African
Position
(CAP)
on
Post
2015
Development
Agenda
had
Science,
Technology
and
Innovation
among
the
six
pillars
that
were
identified
for
Africa’s
development
priorities.
Likewise
the
Agenda
2063
has
placed
science,
technology
and
innovation
at
the
epicentre
of
Africa’s
development
agenda.
• The
NEPAD
Agency
as
a
technical
arm
of
the
African
Union
has
recognised
and
supported
the
development
and
application
of
science,
technology
and
innovation
in
its
delivery
mechanism.
This
commitment
and
implementation
mechanism
has
been
spelt
out
in
the
Science,
Technology
and
Innovation
Strategy
for
Africa
2014-­‐2024
(STISA
2024)
which
was
adopted
by
the
AU
Summit
of
June
2014
in
Malabo,
Equatorial
Guinea
(succeeding
to
the
AU
Science
and
Technology
Consolidated
Plan
of
Action).
• It
is
recognised
that
several
pre-­‐requisites
need
to
be
addressed
in
order
for
Africa
to
reap
the
most
from
its
application
of
science,
technology
and
innovation.
Some
among
them
include,
continued
growth
of
the
political
will
in
this
agenda
and
trust
in
the
youth
capacity;
the
need
to
revamp
the
scientific
infrastructure
in
the
African
countries;
enhancing
technical
competencies
and
building
a
strong
science
culture;
strengthening
intellectual
property
and
regulatory
systems;
and
providing
an
enabling
environment
including
investment
in
research
and
innovation.
• In
its
delivery
mechanism,
the
NEPAD
has
supported
programmes
that
enhance
regional
networking
through
regional
centres
of
excellence
in
various
disciplines;
production
of
evidence
that
has
informed
policy
formulation
for
better
conduct
and
P.O. Box 218 Midrand, 1685, Gauteng, Johannesburg, South Africa
OFFICE - [phone] | FAX - [phone] | WEB - www.nepad.org
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application
of
science;
building
of
functional
regulatory
systems
that
support
technology
development
in
life
sciences
and
engineering;
and
encouraging
collaboration
within
and
between
Member
States
in
the
areas
of
innovation
and
entrepreneurship.
• Industrialization
is
key
to
this
overall
exercise.
The
jobs
we
envision
for
the
youth
cannot
be
created
without
a
solid
industrialization
process
that
goes
hand
in
hand
with
STI
development.
It
is
not
by
chance
that
SDG9
addresses
both
industrialization
and
innovation:
it
is
because
they
are
closely
intertwined
(together
with
infrastructure).
Further,
multisectorality
will
have
to
be
taken
into
account
as
well.
• Active
collaboration
in
science,
technology
and
innovation
has
been
built
among
state-­‐owned
and
private
institutions
and
individuals
and
also
with
the
UN
Agencies
that
constitute
the
core
UN
task
team
on
Science,
Technology
and
Innovation,
namely
UNDESA,
UNEP,
UNIDO,
UNESCO,
UNCTAD,
ITU,
and
WIPO.
We
look
forward
to
working
with
this
particular
UN
task
team
on
matters
of
science,
technology
and
innovation,
as
the
NEPAD
Agency
coordinates
the
implementation
of
STISA
2024
on
behalf
of
the
African
Union.
• Matters
of
mapping
science,
technology
and
innovation
on
the
continent
are
very
important
to
us.
As
you
may
be
aware,
we
continue
to
provide
leadership
in
the
publication
of
the
African
Innovation
Outlook
through
the
STI
data
that
we
collect
together
with
member
states
in
the
African
Science,
technology
and
Innovation
Indicators
Initiative
(ASTII).
This
programme
will
be
an
important
resource
for
the
online
platform
that
will
be
developed
and
managed
by
the
Technology
Facilitation
Mechanism.
I
therefore
call
upon
the
UN
Agencies
whom
we
have
collaborated
with
on
the
ASTII
programme
to
work
with
us
so
that
we
continue
to
improve
the
quality
of
data
that
is
being
collected
for
science,
technology
and
innovation
in
Africa.
• To
conclude,
I
wish
to
congratulate
the
Governments
of
France
and
Brazil
for
co-­‐
organizing
the
launch
of
the
Technology
Facilitation
Mechanism
for
achieving
sustainable
development
goals,
and
I
hereby
pledge
the
full
support
of
the
continent
in
the
implementation
of
the
new
mechanism.
• I
thank
you.