Decision on the Report of Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee on NEPAD Doc. assembly/AU/3 (XI)

DECISION ON THE REPORT OF HEADS OF STATE AND GOVERNMENT
IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE ON NEPAD
DOC. ASSEMBLY/AU/11 (XI)

The Assembly:

1. TAKES NOTE WITH APPRECIATION of the report by the Chairperson of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC), H.E. Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia;

2. ENDORSES the conclusions of the 18^th NEPAD HSGIC Summit;

3. URGES the African Union Commission to complete the process of the appointment of the Chief Executive Officer for the NEPAD Secretariat by the next African Union Summit in January 2009 along the lines of the January 2008 AU Assembly decision and CALLS ON Member States to encourage their citizens to submit applications for the post;

4. COMMENDS the hosting of the NEPAD Review Summit by President Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar, Senegal on 15 April 2008 as well as the initiatives presented by Senegal on the revitalization of the NEPAD programme and URGES all Member States to contribute viewpoints on the structure and profile of the new NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Authority;

5. WELCOMES the ongoing work of the AU/NEPAD Coordinating Unit on the integration of NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union, particularly the inauguration of the Unit and DIRECTS that the Unit should remain guided by the 2003 Maputo AU Assembly Declaration, the conclusions of the Algiers NEPAD Brainstorming Summit of March 2007 and the Addis Ababa January 2008 AU Assembly's decision, which continue to form the basis for the integration of NEPAD into AU structures and processes;

6. REQUESTS the Commission to take the necessary measures to speed up the conclusion of the Host Agreement for the NEPAD Secretariat with the Government of South Africa and WELCOMES the assurance by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa that all efforts would be made to conclude the Host Agreement before the end of July 2008;

7. AGREES AND URGES the completion of the process of the integration of NEPAD into the structures and processes of the African Union by the next Ordinary Session of the Assembly in January 2009;

8. ACCEPTS the recommendation of HSGIC to take three key messages of importance for Africa to the G7 Summit scheduled for Hokkaido, Japan, from 7-9 July 2008, as follows:

• That the Africa Action Plan remains the basis for Africa’s engagement with the G8;

• Reactivation of the G8/NEPAD follow-up mechanism as agreed upon at the G8 Heiligendamm Summit of 2007 to ensure prompt and effective fulfillment of all G8 commitments and pledges to Africa;

• Facilitate better access to concessional loans by African countries for the purpose of economic growth within the context of prudent macro- economic management as part of the process of reviewing the issues of Financing for Development. This is all the more important in view of the burden of the hike in prices of oil and inflation in food prices faced by oil importing countries;

9. EMPHASIZES that the Japanese “Cool Earth” Initiative should not compromise or undermine Africa’s positions and strategies on Climate Change being canvassed at the international level through the United Nations Framework for Climate Change (UNFCC’s) Kyoto and post-Kyoto processes;

10. UNDERSCORES the need for early preparations by Africa for the 2009 G8 Summit in Italy and the 2010 G8 Summit in Canada, and the appropriate engagements at various levels by Africa with the leadership of the two countries for the necessary sensitization towards African priorities, interests and concerns;

11. APPROVES the new membership of the NEPAD HSGIC for the next two (2) years as follows: