At the
National Launch of the Common African Position on Post-2015 Development Agenda
Cecil C. Dennis Auditorium
Monrovia, Liberia
Monday, May 26, 2014

(As Delivered)

Mr. Chief Justice, Associate Justices;
Senator [Isaac] Nyenabo;

All of you have already been recognized; but let me say how pleased we are that you have agreed to participate in this meeting.

I want to also recognize the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Liberia because what it shows is that we are all now seeing ourselves toward a common objective where we all come together, members from the different branches and autonomous bodies, because to achieve our objectives will require the participation, support, advise and the understanding of all our of our entities that are involved in achieving our objectives.

I’m pleased to present to you, Liberians and Development Partners, who are all recognized here, the Common African Position (CAP) on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. This is the result of many years of consultations and a full year of drafting. As you know, the 22nd Assembly of Heads of State of the African Union established a High Level Committee (HLC) representing the five regions and consisting ten Heads of State and Governments. Members of the HLC, representing the five regions of the continent are, West Africa: Guinea and Liberia, North Africa: Algeria and Mauritania, Central Africa: Congo and Chad, East Africa: Ethiopia and Mauritius, Southern Africa: Namibia and South Africa. Our task was to draw from the work of our regional institutions such as the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Development Bank (AfDB), regional economic commissions and to work with our partners through widespread consultations among all stakeholders across the continent, to identify areas of priority for Africa’s development and ensure that those priorities are represented in the United Nations Post-2015 global development agenda which will replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Our Committee held its first meeting in New York, last year in September in the margins of the UN General Assembly to draw up the roadmap.

Over the past seven months, several meetings were held by the HLC both at the political and technical level to streamline the multiple priorities that had been collected around the continent. Data was assembled through the consultations with partner institutions and stakeholders that included governments, regional economic entities, civil society, non-governmental organizations, academia, youth, women, think-tanks and, perhaps as a new innovation, the private sector. The consultations resulted in the Common African Position (CAP) which was adopted by the African Heads of State at the meeting at the Ordinary Session held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 31, 2014. It was subsequently launched in Ndjamena, Chad in March 2014. Our committee has continued to work closely with African diplomats in Addis Ababa, New York and Washington, DC.

Our Committee, headed by Dr. [Adboulaye] Dukulé, working with the sheppards from all those who represent the African Union, High Level Committee have all been involved in these consultations.

The next stage of our work will consist of negotiating with other regions of the world to ensure that Africa’s priorities feed into the global development agenda.

The CAP defines six pillars that are essential to the development of Africa, Structural Economic Transformation and Inclusive Growth; Science Technology and Innovation (STI); People Centered Development; Environmental Sustainability, Natural Resources and Natural Disaster Management; Peace and Security and Financing and Partnership for Implementation. Each pillar is committed to good governance and serves as a foundation for ending poverty, promoting prosperity and achieving sustainable and equitable development.

Put simply: We want a peaceful, stable and secured environment. We want our natural resources conserved, managed and used for the benefit of all of our people. We want to be competitive and achieve the same level of development as other regions of the world. We want a full partnership, a global partnership that ensures mutual respect and mutual responsibility.

The Common African Position is launched today in our country so that our policy makers and all stakeholders are informed of the development agenda that will succeed the MDGs in 2015. This is a historic development in Africa because, as mentioned by the Chief Justice, it is the first time that all Africa will agree on one common agenda, with one voice, although in the formulation of national priorities there will be recognition of local specificities.

Africa has a unique opportunity to take a lead role in setting the next development agenda, contrasting with what pertained when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were launched nearly 15 years ago. Nevertheless, Africa did adapt and implement the MDGs and indeed, as has been mentioned by Minister [Augustine] Ngafuan, there has been significant progress by several countries in reaching the goals, particularly in transforming economic growth into job opportunities, improving service delivery in the areas of health and education and minimizing income, gender and spatial inequalities.

This national launch will enable us to take full ownership of the next process of our agenda. I call on all Liberians, those in decision making positions, be it in government, private sector, academia, civil society and other organizations to take a serious look at the content of the CAP and see how national policies and strategies are similar or different and how we can view this document as the roadmap to development. The intent is to move us away from externally-driven initiatives toward internally domestically-inspired action.

The CAP will provide this broad roadmap towards actions that we must undertake to transform our societies as we embark on the longer journey of the African Union’s Vision 2063. The success in Africa’s growth must ensure that this growth is translated into dividends for our people. In order to realize that vision, we must go through a true transformational process, a new agenda for development, a new approach that rejects and restructures the old models.

As we engage in dialogue amongst ourselves, it is important that we talk to stakeholders in other parts of the world. It is important that we engage everyone in the discussion of this; mindful that no matter how beautiful a document is written it is our responsibility to take that written document and turn it into action and priorities otherwise we will not achieve the goals that we’ve set.

We ask you to all focus our attention on the opportunities provided by this roadmap so we end the dichotomy in which Africa is always called a rich continent, with poor people.

I encourage you to attend the full day of briefing and discussions organized by my secretariat which will take place tomorrow at the Bella Casa Hotel and ask and call upon all government ministries and institutions to attend the program to ensure that we have a full knowledge and understanding of the Common African Position.

You were not there on Saturday [May 24] for the launching of our education operational plan; but we expect that you will be there for the much greater call of the Common African Position.

Thank you.