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Rwanda hosts the 2^nd APRM Workshop on VNR and Governance of SDGs

October 21-22^nd, 2019, Kigali, Rwanda – The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) and the Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa held a continental workshop on voluntary national reviews and governance of SGDs at the Marriott Hotel, in Kigali, Rwanda under the theme: "Lessons learned from the High Level Political Forum 2019 and Roadmap to the High Level Political Forum 2020. The two-day workshop brought together representatives from 30 African Countries, governments, international organizations and development partners to discuss the progress of the African Union Member States towards the implementation, monitoring and reporting on Agenda2030 for SDGs and Agenda2063.

While officiating the workshop, Dr. Uwera Claudine, the State Minister in charge of Economic Planning reiterated the commitment of Rwanda in implementing, monitoring and reporting on SDGs; “the first VNR Report was presented July 2019 during the High Level Political Forum in New York, which also provided an opportunity for Rwanda to share experiences and learn from other countries” She noted.

Prof Eddy Maloka, APRM Chief Executive Officer explained that “the workshop aims at encouraging peer-learning exercises between African Countries on voluntary national reviews preparations and means of implementation of SDGs and Agenda 2063.”

The APRM workshop being a peer-learning opportunity, representatives from different countries including Rwanda, Namibia, Uganda, South Africa, Niger, Chad, Madagascar, and organizations such the African Union Commission , UNDESA, UNECA, IGAD discussed through presentations and panel discussions experiences and lessons learnt from their respective entire VNR processes and define the key responsibilities of each organ at local and regional levels.

Dr. Belay Bagashaw, Director General of the SDGC/A urged participants to be persistent, innovative and inclusive to achieve transformation: “we need to do this reviews in a consistent way, we need to apply innovative approaches and we need to include everyone in this transformation journey that the SDGs are all about.” He also stressed the importance of accountability and such workshops, “SDGs care about people, we owe them information about our respective nations perform and also how countries in the neighborhood perform to encourage progress and sustainable transformation.” He added. In his closing remarks, Dr. Belay also requested that the peer-learning workshops take place every year and build a brand name, an idea that was well received by the APRM.