1. What is the Africa Dialogue Series?
The Africa Dialogue Series is the annual flagship advocacy product of the UN Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA). It provides a platform to discuss and debate challenges and opportunities for Africa, bringing together UN entities, experts and policymakers. It takes place every year in May.
2. Why in May?
The ADS takes place in May because it is the month of Africa, as Africa Day is celebrated on 25 May. The Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union, was founded in May. Thanks to the organization of the ADS throughout the whole month of May, it has effectively become a month to celebrate Africa at the United Nations.
3. How is the theme selected?
Each edition of the ADS is drawn from the African Union’s theme of the year. The African Union’s theme for 2022 is: “Strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security on the African continent: Strengthening agro-food systems, health, and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic capital development.”
In line with the African Union’s theme, the ADS theme is: “Build resilience in nutrition: Accelerate Africa's human capital and socio-economic development.”
The broad theme has been further divided into sub-themes to ensure greater focus on key issues. Each week of the ADS will focus on a different sub-theme and will be led by partners who specialize in the area of focus. The four sub-themes and lead partners are:
i) Building Resilient Socio-Agricultural Food Systems: The Key to Nutrition led by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
ii) Strengthening the Resilience of Farming Systems: Land, Digital transformation and Access to Finance – making smallholder farmers the backbones led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
iii) Social Protection’s Role in Enhancing Food Security and Nutrition for Greater Resilience in Africa led by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO)
iv) Human Capital Development, Climate, Energy and Food Systems led by the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and OSAA
4. Who are the core partners in the ADS?
The ADS is an initiative that OSAA organizes every year with the African Union Commission. Depending on the theme for the year, OSAA draws on the expertise of UN entities, African Union entities and civil society, as reflected by the lead organizations for each sub-theme during the 2022 ADS. The Economic Commission for Africa, the Department of Global Communications, the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) and the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), who are key partners in the implementation of OSAA’s mandate, also participate actively in every edition of the ADS.
5. Who can participate in the ADS?
The ADS is open to a cross-section of stakeholders, including government policy and decision-makers, civil society, experts, academia and people who are interested in Africa’s development.
The ADS 2022 programme is structured in a way that allows broad participation. Each week focuses on one sub-theme and follows the same pattern: on Mondays documentaries are screened on the OSAA website, on Tuesdays videos showing the views of experts are screened, on Wednesdays live interactive webinars take place, Thursdays are set aside for youths as the majority of Africa’s population with conversations taking place on Twitter spaces, and Fridays the ADS celebrates Africa’s rich and diverse culture.
The ADS will conclude with a two-day high-level policy dialogue, with the participation of the UN President of the General Assembly, the Secretary-General, government policymakers and other stakeholders.
Information about how to participate in daily activities is available on Africa Dialogue Series 2022 (3 - 27 May) | Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (un.org)