NEPAD lauds important role of the Leadership Council on Food and Nutrition

"

NEPAD’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Ibrahim Mayaki with UN Agency heads at the Leadership Council Session

“There is need for increased commitment to results, stronger partnerships and strengthening accountability systems in the effort to support Africa’s development agenda.”

These remarks were made by NEPAD’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Ibrahim Mayaki at a side event held on the fringes of the 67th United Nations General Assembly in September, in New York.

At the meeting, which was also attended by heads of United Nations Agencies, private sector executives and senior government officials, Dr. Mayaki explained that strengthening accountability systems in Africa is one of the inherent principles of NEPAD’s vision. He noted that the high level of participation in the Leadership Council session was a demonstration of its success because of its ability to listen and advance the views and needs of players and stakeholders.

The Leadership Council is made up of top-level leaders in multi-stakeholder sectors such as government, international organizations, the private sector, civil society and academia. In its part, the ‘New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition and the Grow Africa Partnership’ is a shared commitment by G-8 and African leaders formed in Washington D.C, in May of 2012, and aims to achieve sustained and inclusive agricultural growth, to raise 50 million people out of poverty over the next 10 years.

To sustain the success and value of the Council, Dr. Mayaki urged all concerned to pay particular attention to key underlining principles and ensure appropriate action to remove the challenges and barriers that would be threaten its success.

These principles include ensuring and supporting the development of a strong domestic private sector; meeting obligations on resource mobilization and the need to understand and address capacity constraints and other challenges including the issue of land tenure.

Through the implementation of NEPAD’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), African countries have embraced key reforms in policies and institutional capacity which have translated into actions that yield results and sustainable impact. There has also been sustainable impact on accountability. The Leadership Council’s role in ensuring this sustainability is vital.

Dr Mayaki, who lead a team of senior managers from NEPAD - Martin Bwalya, Head of CAADP, Mrs Bibi Giyose, Food Security and Nutrition Adviser, and Mrs Sarah Lawan, Special Liaison Officer in New York, said, “We cannot emphasize more, the need to pay attention to principles and issues of inclusiveness, responsible financing as well as transparency and accountability, noting that it is through the CAADP implementation framework that we find country-led processes to address these issues. He reiterated that within the CAADP implementation support, the Africa Union Commission and the NEPAD Agency were committed to work with and support Africa’s member states to meet their obligations in this partnership.”

At the New York meeting, three more countries joined the New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition partnership - Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Mozambique. Other existing members are Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania.