“We cannot have sustainable development without sustaining peace. Neither can we build a secure future for everyone without addressing the root causes of our conflicts and vulnerabilities,” said Amina Mohammed, the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General.

Ms Mohammed was speaking in Marrakech, Morocco, at the twentieth session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM–Africa)―a joint United Nations and African Union body that supports African development.

“The United Nations is working with the Africa Union to try to get the 47% of people of the continent still under the poverty line out of poverty, bring energy to the doorsteps of 500 million people without electricity and garner the US$ 60 billion needed to empower African women,” said Vera Songwe, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

The African Union Commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology, Sarah Anyang Agbor, encouraged the participants to, “Live by Ubuntu. It is my, your, our responsibility to strengthen collaboration for the reforms.”

Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, co-chaired a panel meeting with Ms Anyang Agbor at the RCM–Africa session. During the panel meeting―entitled “Upscaling durable solutions, including addressing the forced displacement–development nexus”―the participants noted that more than a third of the world’s displaced people are in Africa. The participants agreed on the need to understand and address the root causes of displacement and build on what is known to work to break the cycle of vulnerability. Mr Sidibé emphasized that fostering resilient societies means first addressing the challenge of income inequality.

The RCM–Africa session was held on 23 and 24 March.