1. Agri-food Session
Theme: Agri-food Systems: Increasing Resilience to Shocks and Crises
Date: Tuesday, 27 September 2022, 10.00am to 11:45am EST
Venue: UN Headquarters, Senegalese Mission, Room 8, New York
The current Ukraine-Russia conflict has shed light on the vulnerability of the global food system to geopolitical dynamics and the need for revitalized trade partnerships to address global food insecurity. In light of the food crisis, both Africa and Europe share a clear opportunity to reduce their dependencies on cereal imports, diversify supplies, and speed-up sustainable agri-food production, trade, and consumption. Effective partnerships between the two continents are needed to catalyze action doubling resilience and adaptation measures, building up strategic reserves, and making countries more food secure. This session will focus on the opportunity for a partnership on food systems between Africa and Europe to accelerate progress towards food and nutrition security for all by 2030.
Agenda:
10h00 Welcome Remarks
Kandeh Yumkella, Ambassador of the Africa-Europe Foundation
10h05 Keynote Remarks
• H.E. Olof Skoog, Ambassador and Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations
• H.E. Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Ambassador and Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations
• Christina Duarte, Under Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations and Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General on Africa
• H.E. Francisco André, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal
• H.E. Richard Randriamandrato, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar
10h35 High-level Panel Discussion
• Ibrahim Mayaki, Co-chair of the Africa-Europe Foundation Strategy Group on Agri-food and former CEO of AUDA-NEPAD
• Wanjira Mathai, Managing Director, Africa and Global Partnerships at the World Resources Institute (WRI)
• Stefanos Fotiou, Director, Office of Sustainable Development Goals at FAO and Director of the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub
• H.E. Richard Randriamandrato, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Madagascar
• H.E. Fatima Kyari Mohammed, Ambassador and Permanent Observer of the African Union to the United Nations
11h45 Closing remarks and end of Session
Kandeh Yumkella, Ambassador of the Africa-Europe Foundation
11:45-12:00 Coffee break
2. Climate Adaptation Session
Theme: The Road to COP27: Scaling up Climate Adaptation Financing
Date: Tuesday, 27 September 2022, 12.00am to 13:00pm EST
Venue: UN Headquarters, Senegalese Mission, Room 8, New York
With only eight years left to halve global emissions, and already six years spent negotiating the Paris rulebook, COP27 must be the year that the international community makes the shift from mistrust and siloed commitment to unified action and implementation. Present global climate change patterns have shown that Africa continues to disproportionately suffer the most detrimental effects of the climate change, despite contributing the least, and therefore should receive the greatest support to mitigate and adapt. Accordingly, for COP27 to be a success and break these barriers of mistrust and move towards a unified global partnership, leaders from high emitting countries must meet their unmet commitments to deliver climate financing for adaptation, loss and to damage. This session will bring together key stakeholders ahead of COP27 to discuss these pertinent but often side-lined element of climate negotiations to unlock areas of cooperation, through aligned approaches and action orientated partnerships between Africa and Europe.
Agenda:
12h00 Welcome Remarks
Kandeh Yumkella, Ambassador of the Africa-Europe Foundation
12h05 High-level Panel Discussion:
• Dymphna van der Lans, Chief Executive Officer Clean Cooking Alliance (CCA)
• Romy Andrianarisoa, Chair of the Commission for Sustainable Development and Business Ethics – Groupement des Entreprises de Madagasar
• Vhalinavho Khavhagali, Senior Fellow for Adaptation at the Africa-Europe Foundation, and country representative for South Africa at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
• Marc van Heukelen*, Hors Classe Adviser and Ambassador at Large - Climate Diplomacy, European External Action Services (EEAS)
• H.E Barbara Creecy*, South Africa’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
12h40 Q&A with panelists and audience
13h00 Closing remarks and end of session
Kandeh Yumkella, Ambassador of the Africa-Europe Foundation
3. Digital Economy Session
Title: Responsible AI for Africa’s Development
Date: Tuesday, 27 September, 15.00pm to 16.15pm EST
Venue: Consulate General of France, New York - 934 5th Avenue, NY 10021 (Salon Rose)
AI is a key enabler to achieve Sustainable Development Goals notably through more efficient use of resources and the enhanced provision of health services. The development and dissemination of responsible and trustworthy innovative AI solutions needs to be supported by policy and regulatory frameworks, skills development for professions including engineers and researchers and the necessary data storage capacity. Despite its many benefits, the uptake of AI in Africa remains very fragmented and unequal and the gap between African and European countries is becoming increasingly larger. While developments in AI have so far mainly been led by private actors, some countries such as South Africa already have an AI blueprint and based on it, local innovators are disseminating responsible and trustworthy AI based solutions to support households, SMEs, and public institutions. Other countries such as Senegal, Rwanda, Ghana are accelerating their investments in AI. Currently under development, the European Union AI act proposes a harmonized framework for AI policy which could provide an outlook on potential developments in Africa. This interactive brainstorming session will deep dive into the development of national AI policy, accompanying frameworks and use cases of AI based solutions to support progress towards SDGs.
Speakers
• Yankhoba Diatara*, Minister of Digital Economy and Telecommunication, Senegal
• Sanda Ojiambo*, Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations Global Compact
• Joris Cyizere, Acting Managing Director Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda
• Tracey Li, Senior Data Lead, D-tree International
• Rebecca Distler, Strategist for AI, Data, and Digital Health, The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation
• Moderation: by Steve Rochlin- Head of Global Enabling Sustainability Initiative (GeSI) America
Agenda
14h45 Registration
15h00 Welcome Remarks 15h05 Keynote Address
15h15 Panel Discussion Intervention: Developing and implementing AI policy frameworks between Africa and Europe Intervention: Opportunities and bottlenecks for the development of responsible and trustworthy AI solutions in Africa and in Europe Intervention: AI solutions for development
15h30
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