My speech will be very short, not statement oriented, but good will’s wishing oriented. 

On behalf of the Cluster on Human and Social Development and the World Health Organization that I have the privilege to represent in Ethiopia and also to AUC and UNECA, I would like to welcome you and to convey our warm greetings to all the participants to this meeting in Addis Ababa, the politic capital of Africa.

This Pre-event is an important consultative forum that will help position ourselves well for the deliberations of the forthcoming African Development Forum – ADF VIII -; therefore I would like to commend the organizers for taking this very good initiative and for the choice of the very relevant theme: “Towards equity in natural resources development”

The message I am bringing here, is to reiterate the commitment of the Cluster in taking forward the recommendations from the forum; we shall work collectively in implementing them based on our comparative advantage and mandates.

I would also like to take this opportunity to commend all efforts being made by the various sub-clusters in the context of the spirit of “Delivering as One” in support to the African Union organs.

In addition, this is the right time for us to confirm that the UN system will continue to use the Regional Consultation Mechanism to strengthen the coordination of its support to the AU and NEPAD. Through the RCM, the UN agencies, working through their respective clusters, are aligning their work programmes on the continent to the strategic plans of the AU commission and the NEPAD Secretariat.

I wish you fruitful deliberations and I also encourage you to save some time to give yourself an opportunity to have a look at this exciting city and its wonderful people. I am sure, there is also some more experience waiting out there.

Thank you!

Choukrane!

Merci!

Obrigado!

Amessegenalhu!