Assembly/AU/Decl.8 (II) Page 3 Programmes Implementation 3. URGE that the programmes identified in each priority area, such as infrastructure and agriculture, be urgently implemented and that each region and Member State, through the RECs, provide assistance in the further development and implementation of these programmes and in the continued popularisation of NEPAD amongst all sectors of society, including and in particular the youth, women, private sector and the civil society at large, on the African continent; 4. ACKNOWLEDGE the linkage between the work of the Committee of African Ministers of Public Service and the programmatic thrust of NEPAD and REQUEST the incorporation of their work as an important element of the overall AU programme. 5. CALL UPON Member States and the RECs to promote and implement these priority programmes and projects as well as to develop detailed and costed action plans in the areas of health, education, culture, science and technology, environment and tourism; 6. DECIDE that the co-ordination of all NEPAD sectoral programmes, initiatives and related activities continue to be undertaken through the NEPAD HSGIC and its supporting structures; 7. ENCOURAGE the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee to explore adequate funding mechanisms for sustainable financing of NEPAD programmes and projects, including the possibility of a NEPAD Trust Fund; Integration of NEPAD into the AU Structures and Processes 8. MANDATE the Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee of NEPAD, supported by the NEPAD Steering Committee and the NEPAD Secretariat, to continue their vital work of ensuring the implementation of NEPAD programmes; 9. MANDATE the Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, in consultation with the Chairperson of the HSGIC, to operationalise the following, with the flexibilities as may be required: (i) establish appropriate linkages between the NEPAD Steering Committee with the relevant organs of the African Union including the Permanent Representatives Committee and the Executive Council in order to ensure integrated inputs into the work of the HSGIC; (ii) enter into a temporary host agreement with the Government of the Republic South Africa with a view to providing the NEPAD Secretariat with a legal status of an AU office operating outside the African Union Headquarters for a transitional period of three (3) years as from July 2003, or until such time the relevant structures of the African Union are fully operational, whichever comes first; (iii) formalise the working relations between the AU Commission and the NEPAD Secretariat, especially for programme co-ordination and harmonisation; (iv) align and harmonise the conditions of service, rules of recruitment and accountability with those of the AU Commission; and (v) develop a sustainable funding mechanism for NEPAD after its complete integration into the AU structures and processes.