Rabat – Secretary of State for Sustainable Development Nezha El Ouafi met, on Monday, with Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) Vera Songwe on the progress of the action plan of the African Forum for Sustainable Development in relation to the recommendations of the Marrakesh statement.

During this video-conference meeting, it was agreed to prepare the reference texts for the elaboration, by the end of August, of a feasibility study on the creation of a Special Fund to develop statistical data related to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and seek the necessary funding for this purpose.

According to a statement from the State Secretariat, the fund will also provide support for African countries in collecting and compiling statistics related to the implementation of the SDGs in Africa.

During the video-conference between Seongwe and El Ouafi, in her capacity as Chair of the Forum, emphasis was laid on mobilizing sufficient financial resources to accelerate the achievement of sustainable development goals in Africa, particularly in the areas of health, agriculture, energy and education.

The two sides also discussed the presentation of the recommendations of the Marrakesh Statement at the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Climate Summit slated in New York in September, as well as at the 25th Conference of States Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, to be held next December in Chile.