The 2019 Africa Regional Ministerial Conference on Green Economy is organized by the World Green Economy Organization in close cooperation with the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation and in partnership with a number of key stakeholders.
The 2019 Africa Regional Ministerial Conference on Green Economy is generously hosted by the Ministry of Environment of the Arab Republic of Egypt.
The World Green Economy Organization (WGEO, http://worldgreeneconomy.org) emerged in response to the priorities and concerns identified from Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in 2012 as an organization intended to support emerging global actions towards the green, low-carbon, climate-resilient development model. WGEO seeks to promote the widespread acceptance and increased importance of the green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication, by linking financing, technology, capacity-building and all other elements of the enabling environment for green economy.
The purpose of WGEO is to provide systematic, holistic and catalytic support in the promotion of widespread acceptance and increased importance of the green economy at national, regional and global levels. More specifically, the objectives of WGEO are:
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC, https://www.unsouthsouth.org) was established to promote, coordinate and support South-South and triangular cooperation globally and within the United Nations system.
UNOSSC, hosted by UNDP since 1974, was established by the UN General Assembly with a mandate to advocate for and coordinate South-South and triangular cooperation on a global and UN system-wide basis. UNOSSC receives policy directives and guidance from the General Assembly and through its subsidiary body, the High-level Committee on South-South Cooperation. UNOSSC submits its strategic planning frameworks to the UNDP, UNFPA and UNOPS Executive Board for approval and funding. The Director reports to the UNDP Administrator and has also been appointed Envoy of the Secretary-General on South-South Cooperation.
The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation:
The Ministry of Environment and the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency (EEAA, http://www.eeaa.gov.eg) are the highest authority in Egypt responsible for promoting and protecting the environment, and coordinating adequate responses to these issues.
In June 1997, the responsibility of Egypt’s first full time Minister for Environmental Affairs was assigned as stated in the Presidential Decree no.275/1997. From thereon, the new Ministry has focused, in close collaboration with the national and international development partners, on defining environmental policies, setting priorities and implementing initiatives within a context of sustainable development.
The Ministry of Environment is responsible for formulating environmental policies, preparing the necessary plans for Environmental protection and Environmental development projects, following up their implementation, and undertaking Pilot Projects. The Ministry is also the National Authority in charge of promoting environmental relations between Egypt and other States, as well as Regional and International Organizations.
The World Food Programme (WFP, https://www.wfp.org/) is the leading humanitarian organization saving and changing lives, delivering food assistance in emergencies and working with communities to improve nutrition and build resilience. As the international community has committed to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition by 2030, one in nine people worldwide still do not have enough to eat. Food and food-related assistance lie at the heart of the struggle to break the cycle of hunger and poverty.
WFP’s efforts focus on emergency assistance, relief and rehabilitation, development aid and special operations. Two-thirds of WFP work is in conflict-affected countries where people are three times more likely to be undernourished than those living in countries without conflict. In emergencies, WFP is often first on the scene, providing food assistance to the victims of war, civil conflict, drought, floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, crop failures and natural disasters. When the emergency subsides, WFP helps communities rebuild shattered lives and livelihoods. WFP also works to strengthen the resilience of people and communities affected by protracted crises by applying a development lens in our humanitarian response.
WFP development projects focus on nutrition, especially for mothers and children, addressing malnutrition from the earliest stages through programmes targeting the first 1,000 days from conception to a child’s second birthday, and later through school meals. WFP is the largest humanitarian organization implementing school feeding programmes worldwide and has been doing so for over 50 years.
WFP works closely with its two Rome-based sister organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the International Fund for Agricultural Development. WFP partners with more than 1,000 national and international NGOs to provide food assistance and tackle the underlying causes of hunger.
The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change, https://unfccc.int) was established in 1992 when countries adopted the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
With the subsequent adoption of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 and the Paris Agreement in 2015, Parties to these three agreements have progressively reaffirmed the secretariat’s role as the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change.
Focusing in its early years largely on facilitating the intergovernmental climate change negotiations, the secretariat today supports a complex architecture of bodies that serve to advance the implementation of the Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement.
The secretariat provides technical expertise and assists in the analysis and review of climate change information reported by Parties and in the implementation of the Kyoto mechanisms. It also maintains the registry for Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) established under the Paris Agreement, a key aspect of implementation of the Paris Agreement.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, https://www.undp.org) works in about 170 countries and territories, helping to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the reduction of inequalities and exclusion. UNDP helps countries to develop policies, leadership skills, partnering abilities, institutional capabilities and build resilience in order to sustain development results.
In September 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity. UNDP is working to strengthen new frameworks for development, disaster risk reduction and climate change. UNDP supports countries’ efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, or Global Goals, which will guide global development priorities through 2030.
UNDP’s strength comes from having the trust of developing countries, owing to our impartial character, longstanding presence and commitment to the poorest and most vulnerable. UNDP also plays a key role as the support platform of the wider UN Development System, helping agencies work together for sustainable development.
CSR Arabia (http://csrarabia.com ) was established with the aim of spreading awareness among companies and different institutions on the importance of fulfilling their social responsibilities toward the community, and how to achieve sustainable future for everyone by adopting Sustainable Development Goals and achieving the targets of 17 SDGs.
CSR Arabia Philosophy is built around bridging between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainable Development, as CSR Arabia believes that dynamic networking and partnerships can be powerful vehicles for change.
CSR Arabia aims to ensure effective and dynamic channels of communication between governmental institutions, private sector and civil society organizations to support the alignment of CSR plans and activities with the overarching national and international policies and strategies to achieve sustainable development.
The International Solar Alliance (ISA, http://isolaralliance.org) is a treaty-based international intergovernmental organization established by the parties to collectively address key common challenges to the scaling up of solar energy in line with their needs. The goal is to mobilize more than USD1,000 billion into solar sector and to accelerate the development and deployment of over 1,000GW of solar generation capacity by 2030 in ISA Member countries.
As of now 74 countries have signed and 52 countries have ratified the Framework Agreement on the Establishment of the ISA. The Membership of the ISA is now open for all the UN Member countries (ratification procedure under progress). The ISA aims to directly impact the SDG 7(Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all) and SDG 13 (Take urgent action to combat climate change) while striking a balance between the two.
The ISA rests on a strong governance structure which includes: Assembly, eight committees: standing committee, programmme committee, general and legal, finance committee along with 4 regional committees. Six task forces, two working Groups and a global ecosystem of partners help ISA keep the pace.
