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28 Nov. - 4 Dec.
UNIDOScope CONTENTS:
Africa Industrialization Day
productive capacities = poverty reduction
Vienna, Austria, 19 November, 2004
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Each year on the 20th November, Africa Industrialization Day, a special effort is made to bring together African leaders, the continents private sector, civil society and the UN system, to raise consciousness around the world of the importance of industrialization to Africa and to assess progress made.The theme of the 2004 observation was Strengthening Productive Capacity for Poverty Reduction within the Framework of NEPAD.
Messages were delivered at the Africa Industrialization Day gathering at UNIDO HQ in Vienna on Friday 19 November, on behalf of the UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan (view or download); the President of the 59th Session of the General Assembly, Jean Ping (view or download: French) ; Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Alpha Omar Konaré, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, K.Y. Amoako, and UNIDO Directory-General Carlos Magariños (view or download Joint Statement: English;French). A statement was also delivered on belhalf of the Group of African UNIDO Member States, by the Acting Chairperson of the Group, Béatrice Damiba (view or download. In addition to the written statements delivered on the occasion, UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magariños spoke informally to the gathering.
The substance of the joint AU, UNECA, UNIDO Statement follows.
"Today, we acknowledge The Africa Industrialization Day as a special day for the industrial development efforts of the African continent. This is a yearly occasion, when the African leaders, the African Private Sector, the civil society and the UN System, take stock of the progress achieved in enhancing Africas industrialization process.
Most importantly the occasion provides the opportunity for the African continent to consider its challenges in its pursuit of sustainable industrial development and the eradication of poverty through enhanced levels of productivity, productive capacity and job creation for social advancement.
The UNIDO Industrial Development Report 2004 Industrialization, Environment and the Millennium Development Goals in Sub-Saharan Africa: The New Frontier in the fight against Poverty has revealed that in Africa, GDP per person would have to grow on average more than 4% per annum until 2015 in order to achieve the income poverty goal, which achievement depends more on manufacturing, trade and development.
It is therefore, befitting that the theme for this year is Strengthening Productive Capacity for Poverty Reduction within the Framework of NEPAD. This theme that resonates with provisions of such initiatives as:
- The Millennium Development Goals in particular: (i) halving extreme poverty and hunger, (ii) achieving gender equity, (iii) halving the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and ensuring environmental sustainability, (iv) developing a global partnership for development, with targets for aid, trade and debt relief.
- The New Partnership for Africas Development, the African Unions socio- economic programme which represents a unique commitment by Africans to lead decisively the social, economic and political transformation of the continent in partnership with the international community; and
- The African Productive Capacity Initiative (APCI), the result of close consultations with the Africas regions, direct stakeholders in the Initiative. The APCI is a comprehensive framework aimed at developing industrial capacities through regional integration.
In July 2004, the APCI, jointly promoted by the Conference of African Ministers of Industry (CAMI) and UNIDO, was adopted by the African Union Heads of States summit as the NEPAD component on sustainable industrial development.
The challenges faced by Africa in transforming its economy in order to achieve on a sustainable basis 7% of economic growth as well as improving its value addition in the share of the Gross Domestic Product of its economy through manufactured products are enormous. Success can however be achieved if collective actions and strong commitments from all development stakeholders are mobilized.
In this regard, and in order to reduce poverty, concrete action must be taken to operationalise the APCI, strengthen productive capacity and improve competitiveness. The Sao Paolo Consensus indeed emphasizes the need for productive capacity building without which progress cannot be achieved. Africa needs to embark seriously upon transforming itself from a producer of primary goods into a producer of semi-processed, processed and therefore valued-added goods for domestic, regional and global markets. This however must be done in parallel with continued pressure on developed countries to eliminate subsidies and remove trade barriers to market access.
The Africa Industrialization Day represents a yearly occasion to address the progress made towards sustainable industrial development on the continent. The on-going transformation processes of Africa through the framework of NEPAD needs a strong, collective and coherent commitment from all partners.
This is why, we are taking the opportunity of the celebration of the Africa Industrialization
Day to launch an appeal to all stakeholders, governments, international institutions, private sector,
and partners to fulfil their commitments in the implementation of the African Productive Capacity
Initiative (APCI)."
Fatou Haidara, Tel: +43 1
26026 / 3708, E-mail F.Haidara@unido.org
United Nations Day at UNIDO-ICS Trieste
Trieste, Italy, 25 October, 2004
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The UNIDO - International Centre for Science and High Technology (UNIDO-ICS Trieste) hosted celebrations for UN Day (25 October) for the first time in its history this year. The theme for the celebrations was the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The key-note speech at the event was delivered by professor Bernard Amadei, founder of the international non-governmental organization Engineers without Borders. The professor illustrated the sustainable approach taken by his NGO with case studies from Belize, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Rwanda and Afghanistan. Among the tips professor Amadei gave on how we can reduce our ecological footprint was to try thinking "should we do it" instead of "just do it" (view or download pdf of ppt).
Representatives of UNIDO, UNESCO, the Italian authorities and of Trieste's international scientific institutions: the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics, the Third World Academy of Sciences, the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Fondazione Internazionale per il Progresso e Libertà delle Scienze - were among the speakers in the ceremony. In his message to participants, UNIDO Director-General Carlos Magariños said the organization of the event by ICS was very timely in underlining the great importance of science and technology for the achievement of the MDGs.
The ICS Trieste UN Day celebrations included: a video
message by UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan; "Youth Peace Appeal and concert by the
students of the United World College of the Adriatic; the awarding
of an ICS-UNIDO Certificate of Appreciation
to Paolo COSOLI, graduate of the University of Trieste, winner of the ICS-UNIDO contest Best
Thesis on Developing Countries; the awarding of nine prizes to primary and intermediate school
students from Trieste for, Best Drawings on
Millennium Goals; the awarding of three Certificates of Appreciation for Excellence in
Research to ICS-UNIDO fellows: Rajeeb Ghimire (Nepal), Olfa Khelifi (Tunisia), Daniel
Martinez-Gonzalez (Mexico); an exhibition of photographs by Neva Gasparo and Gianni Plossi, panels
created by the Science Centre
Immaginario Scientifico the Best Drawings on Millennium Goals).
Tel: +39-040-9228-111,
E-mail info@ics.trieste.it
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Send your comments to the editor: K.Timmins@unido.org