Addis Ababa, Oct. 24 – The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) will host the Eighth meeting of the Regional Committee for Africa of the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM: Africa) in Ethiopia from 24-28 October to discuss opportunities and look at issues related to geospatial information policy at the national and regional levels that require a decision, resolution or recommendation to be issued by the Member States, ECA or partners and other stakeholders.
UN-GGIM: Africa was established to coordinate African geospatial development and to contribute to the wider global initiative. UN-GGIM: Africa plays a leading role in making joint decisions and setting directions on the use of geospatial information within national, regional and global policy frameworks. It also works with Governments to improve policy, institutional arrangements, and legal frameworks, addressing global issues and contributing to the collective knowledge as a community with shared interests and concerns.
As one of its major activities, UN-GGIM: Africa conducts annual meetings across the continent. With the support of local and international organizations, UN-GGIM: Africa has organized until now seven of such meetings in Tunis (Tunisia) in 2014, Nairobi (Kenya) in 2015, Abidjan (Cote D’Ivoire) in 2016, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) in 2017 and 2018, Kigali (Rwanda) in 2019; Virtual meeting in 2020; and Abidjan (Côte D’Ivoire) in 2021. Each of these meetings is attended by delegates from African countries, as well as observers from international organizations, academia, regional organizations and networks, and the private sector. The meetings look at policies, measures and steps African countries could take to ensure a successful implementation of the UN-GGIM initiative in the region as well as reviewing the UN-GGIM: Africa’s governance structure and modus operandi; the terms of reference of the Executive Working Groups, the African Action Plan on Geospatial Information for Sustainable Development in Africa (GI4SD), among others.
The Eighth meeting scheduled to be held at the United Nations Conference Centre, in Addis Ababa will bring together national officials in mapping, cartography, surveying, and statistics; high-level experts selected from academia, research institutions, government, and the private sector; representatives from sub-regional and regional organizations. The meeting will be co-located with the Statistical Commission for Africa (StatCom-Africa) Conference to maintain and strengthen the synergy between geospatial and statistical communities in all domains of applicability.
The meeting will help the Member States to consolidate existing consensus on the Regional Committee and to review its structure, functions and operations in Africa while defining its funding mechanisms. The meeting will review the progress made on the recommendations and actions of past meetings of the Regional Committee.
It will also provide an opportunity for participants to share knowledge and best practices related to the development of geospatial information in Africa, increasing their awareness of the benefits of utilizing geospatial information for sustainable development, as well as promote networking among institutions and practitioners in geospatial information and generate synergy at the national level to facilitate its management. Emphasis will be given to sharing experiences and identifying ground-level geospatial infrastructures that will be required for the post-COVID-19 recovery at the national level.
Participants will also take time to exchange views on means and measures for modernizing national mapping agencies and their workflows in response to the current trends of geospatial technology so that they remain relevant in providing authoritative facts and evidence for use in policymaking. Equally, they will review a comprehensive programme ECA is putting forward to streamline innovative geospatial activities in Africa that will provide ideas, insights and strategic pathways for the intelligent and integrated management of fit-for-purpose development information and services.
It is expected that the outcomes of the meeting will help to consolidate the consensus and drive the political will to leverage geospatial information technology to support the African development agenda and address emerging global challenges.
ECA notes that strategic guidance that has emerged from the United Nations Global Geospatial Information Management has been essential in ensuring that the Regional Committee continues to play a leading role in determining the way forward in the use of geospatial information in national and regional policy frameworks. With ECA support, the Regional Committee has also made a substantive effort to provide a forum for African nation’s representatives to meet and discuss and collaborate on important issues relating to integrated geospatial information management in Africa.
