The Union of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions of Africa (UCESA) and the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union (AU) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Thursday in Rabat, aimed at strengthening their cooperation and coordination.
Initialed by the current president of UCESA and of the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) of Morocco, Abdelkader Amara, and the president of ECOSOCC of the African Union, Louis Cheick Sissoko, this MoU aims to open new prospects for cooperation on several economic, social, cultural, and environmental issues, in accordance with the objectives of the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Speaking on this occasion, Amara said that this memorandum of understanding reflects the desire of both institutions to deepen their cooperation and strengthen their contribution to the economic, social, and human development priorities of the African continent.
This partnership is based on the existing complementarity between the two institutions, since ECOSOCC constitutes the institutional framework for civil society participation in the work of the African Union, while UCESA plays a fundamental role in consolidating dialogue and social cohesion as well as in developing public policies at the national level, he specified.
Amara also noted that this cooperation will make it possible to pool expertise and strengthen the analytical capacities of both institutions in order to anticipate emerging issues, noting that it also offers the opportunity to conduct consultations on major African challenges and to formulate proposals capable of enriching the discussions underway within the African Union.
He added that this partnership is of particular importance for the continent’s strategic projects, notably those related to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), energy transition, innovation, food sovereignty, and youth employment, adding and emphasizing the need to strengthen the mobilization of all economic and social actors around shared objectives.
For his part, Sissoko indicated that this partnership aims to strengthen cooperation between UCESA and ECOSOCC, specifying that these two institutions share the same conviction: “the development of Africa cannot be decided without those who live it and build it on a daily basis.”
In this sense, he highlighted the central role played by ECOSOCC within the African Union as an AU advisory body bringing the voice of African civil society to the heart of continental policies, considering that “the time for grand declarations must give way to the time for results.”
He likewise specified that the aforementioned memorandum of understanding sets clear priorities linked notably to Agenda 2063, the Sustainable Development Goals, free movement, and the AfCFTA, and provides for the organization of regular consultations and activities aimed at strengthening the networking of members of both institutions.