Assembly/AU/Dec.423(XIX) Page 1 DECISION ON MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs) REPORT AND POST 2015 MDGs AGENDA DOC. EX.CL/736(XXI) The Assembly, 1. TAKES NOTE of the Report on assessment of Africa’s progress towards the Millennium Development Goals including Africa’s new perspectives on the post2015 Development Programme, and request the Commission to present the comprehensive report on the progress achieved and the challenges encountered at the level of the African Union and the various regions and countries, in particular the consultations carried out during the meeting held in Addis Ababa on this issue in March 2012; 2. EXPRESSES satisfaction at the joint efforts and the active cooperation between the AU Commission, Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Development Bank (AfDB) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the elaboration of the assessment report; 3. RECOMMENDS that the post-2015 Development Programme should include all areas of action currently covered by the MDGs, focussing more particularly on local context over and above social needs, and with emphasis on the productive sector, job creation for the youth, food security, peace and security, adaptive capacities and adoption of sustainable development programme vis-à-vis the challenges posed by climate change in particular, and other challenges; 4. UNDERSCORES the absolute need for Africa to prepare in an appropriate manner to bring substantial contribution to bear on general assessment of the MDGs on the eve of 2015 with a common position in the preparation of the post2015 Development Programme; to this end, request the Commission to coordinate the efforts deployed by all the stakeholders in this process; 5. ALSO UNDERSCORES the need for Africa to strengthen its autonomy by focusing on capitalization of the Continent’s immense resources and on sustainable development programmes; 6. ENCOURAGES Member States to sign and ratify the Africa Charter on Statistics if they have not already done so; 7. URGES African countries to strengthen their statistical systems and institutions in order to produce reliable and timely statistics for the monitoring of progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa; 8. MANDATES the African Union Commission, in close consultation with Member States and Regional Economic Communities to identify Africa’s priorities for the post 2015 development agenda in order to consider making 2015-2024 a decade of transformation for Africa with the support of the AfDB, the UNDP, the ECA and all other stakeholders.