The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
President Kagame was accompanied by First Lady Jeanette Kagame. She participated in the General Assembly for the Organisation of African First Ladies against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) of which she is a founding member.
President Kagame is accompanied by the First Lady, Jeanette Kagame who will be taking part in various engagements including the OAFLA General Assembly Open Session.
President Kagame also chaired the Smart Africa board meeting, where he gave opening remarks. He also attended the Social Development Goals (SDG) Board meeting to discuss resource mobilisation, partnerships upcoming projects, and activities.
Before he departed for Addis Ababa from Kigali on Ja.27, President Kagame had appealed in a keynote address to African leaders to look at the SDGs as an integrated part of a country’s development vision and not an external agenda.
“SDGs offer an opportunity to highlight the importance of good politics as prerequisite for inclusive and sustainable development. For Rwanda, a participatory approach has been indispensable to the modest progress achieved. But we can all do more and better. It is time to create certainty and build momentum by deciding how to monitor and evaluate progress,” he said.
He said all involved should be judged on the same standards and goals.
“The SDG framework is intended to be applicable and relevant to all countries, not just the so-called developing ones. But as Africans, we should see this as an unprecedented opportunity to bridge the gap between our current challenges and our ambitions, by doing once and for all, the right things, in the right way. We have to ensure that the actions we take, contribute to fundamental change in the lives of the people who need it most.”
He said SDGs raise the development focus for African countries from reducing poverty to building prosperity. He said this transition required integrating lessons from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), imposing higher expectations on the private sector which must collaborate with the government.
He said the solution to funding SDGs has to come from business, philanthropy, government and contributions of world’s billions of citizens.
“We all have a role to play and what is really important is cooperation, working closely together to make progress. Events around the world teach us that both fragility and strength can be found in any country. We have to ensure that the actions we take contribute to fundamental change in the lives of the people who need it most.”
The SDG center for Africa based in Kigali was established by leaders on the continent as a home grown African institution, championing the implementation of the SDGs along the principles of AU’s 2063 Agenda.
The center aims at providing technical support, advice and expertise as input to national governments, private sector, civil society, and academic institutions to accelerate the implementation of the SDG agenda across Africa.
President Kagame said the SDG Center for Africa would serve as an important focal point for advocacy and coordination.
“Like the SDGs themselves, this institution is a tool to help us get what we really want: results,” the President said.
By Agencies
