The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are global objectives that succeeded the Millennium Development Goals on 1 January 2016. The SDGs will shape national development plans over the next 15 years. From ending poverty and hunger to responding to climate change and sustaining our natural resources.
Low capacity levels and resources to successfully respond to sustainable development goals are commonly found across most nations on the African Continent. Therefore, although the SDGs are global objectives, it is the countries on the African Continent that are prioritized when providing support in reaching these goals.
Despite the fact that multiple interventions and initiatives (activities) to support Climate Action and Sustainable Development for the African Continent exist, there does not appear to be an overview of who is doing what, where, when and for how long. As a result, key beneficiary stakeholders (African Governments and Private Sector implementors) are only partially aware of all these activities. In addition, there is room for improvement in coordinating these activities, thereby increasing effectiveness and efficiency of (donor) resources spent.
The Bologna, Italy, June 2017 meeting of G7 Environment Ministers – led by the Italian Minister of Environment, Land and Sea – has acknowledged and committed to address the above through the establishment of the ‘Africa Centre for Sustainable Development (ACSD)’. The ACSD intends to focus initially on Climate Action and related SDGs on food security; clean water and energy. This focus could be extended in future based on clearly defined needs in combination with additional resources being made available. Areas that could be considered for a next phase are Natural Resource Management; Forestry; and Biodiversity.
The Italian Ministry for Environment have signed a number of bilateral cooperation agreements with various countries to support their efforts in achieving the SDGs and implementing the Paris Agreement which are managed through Joint Committees of the two parties.
In September and December 2017, UNDP and the Italian Government have entered into a strategic Agreement to set up and support the operations of the ACSD as well as to strengthen the UNDP-Italian bilateral cooperation.
The ACSD and UNDP are being entrusted with the implementation of a number of projects at the country level in Africa and therefore there is the need of hiring a consultant to provide the necessary expertise and quality check in project formulation and implementation.