What is the Malabo Declaration?
The Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods is a set of new goals showing a targeted approach to achieve the agricultural vision for the continent which is shared prosperity and improved livelihoods by 2025. It was adopted by African Union Heads of State and Government in June 2014 at the 23rd Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly.
Purpose
The Declaration commits leaders to a set of actions that will accelerate agricultural growth and transformation across Africa, a re-commitment to the principles and values of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP). Governments are then required to track implementation of their commitments using the adopted mutual accountability framework.
Biennial Review
The first biennial review report came out in January 2018 tracking process from 2016-2017. In January 2020, the second biennial report will be launched to track progress that has been made by member states since the first biennial report.
The Seven Themes
The report will cover the following critical themes:
- Re-commitment to CAADP process
- Enhancing investment finance in agriculture
- Ending hunger by 2025
- Halving poverty through agriculture by 2020
- Enhancing resilience to climate variability
- Boosting intra-African trade in agriculture commodities
- Mutual Accountability for action and result.
2017 Progress Report
Out of the forty seven (47) Member States that reported progress in implementing the Malabo declaration, only twenty (20) reported to be on-track for achieving the commitments by 2025. The twenty countries, which obtained the minimum overall score of 3.94 out of 10 to be on track; Benin (4.3), Botswana (4.4), Burundi (4.7), Burkina Faso (4.2), Cape Verde (4.6), Ethiopia (5.3), Kenya (4.8), Malawi (4.9), Mali (5.6), Mauritania (4.8), Mauritius (5.0), Morocco (5.5), Mozambique (4.1), Namibia (4.1), Rwanda (6.1), Seychelles (4.0), South Africa (4.1), Swaziland (4.0), Togo (4.9), and Uganda (4.5).
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The Trust supports and mobilises civil society networks on issues of ending child marriage, ending violence against children, ending female genital mutilation and promoting childrenâs rights, to carry out advocacy and action across Africa. Special focus is placed on Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania and Zambia where child marriage continues to be a problem largely driven by poverty, gender inequality, harmful traditional practices, conflict, low levels of literacy, limited opportunities for girls and weak or non-existent protective and preventive legal frameworks.
Education is a fundamental right for all children, which is also a vehicle for social, economic and political transformation in communities, countries and the African continent at large. Recent studies indicate a lack of progress in some of the critical commitments aimed at improving education quality, access, retention and achievement, particularly for girls. In most African countries, girls may face barriers to learning, especially when they reach post-primary levels of education. By implementing multi-dimensional approaches to education which includes core education, personal development, life skills and economic competencies, the Trust partners with funding partners, governments, civil societies and the private sector to improve education access.
The Nutrition and Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health and Nutrition, (RMNCAH+N) of the Childrenâs Rights and Development Programme aims at promoting the Global Strategy for women, children and adolescentsâ health within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) agenda. The strategy emphasises on the importance of effective country leadership as a common factor across countries making progress in improving the health of women, children and adolescents.
Through its Early Childhood Development (ECD) plan, The Trust will seek to put into action the new science and evidence Report that was presented by Lancet Series on Good and early development – the right of every child. This will be achieved by mobilising like-minded partners to contribute in the new science and evidence to reach all young children with ECD. The Trustâs goal is to be a catalyst for doing things differently, in particular, to rid fragmentation and lack of coordination across ECD sectors. In response to evidence showing the importance of political will in turning the tide against the current poor access and quality of ECD. Even before conception, starting with a motherâs health and social economic conditions, the early years of a childâs life form a fundamental foundation that determines whether a child will survive and thrive optimally.