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This, in the context of our theme, means that CSOs have a criticalpart to play in supporting governments to articulate and fashion appropriatestrategies for scaling-up efforts to achieve the MDGs.The formal and informal arrangements that the United Nations haswith civil society organizations is aptly demonstrated by the acronymof one of the co-organisers of the Forum – CONGO – The Conferenceof NGOs in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations.It is therefore quite clear that CSOs should accompany the efforts ofthe UN as it undertakes reforms related to its work in development,peace and security, human rights and the rule of law. New elementsof the new institutional architecture of the UN that should thereforeengage the attention of this forum include the Peacebuilding Commission,the Human Rights Council and the United Nations DemocracyFund.It is important to stress in the particular context of Africa that peaceand security is necessary to provide an enabling environment forachieving the MDGs. Good governance promotes peace and stabilityin Africa by giving voice to previously marginalised communities andensuring a transparent, fair and equitable access to resources. Thefocus of this Forum on peace and human security, governance andhuman rights, and development in all its ramifications is thereforewell-placed as it tallies with the areas of UN reform. Cooperation inthese areas should also therefore lie at the heart of the increasinglyclose collaboration between CSOs and the United Nations.I should stress however that the common engagement of the UN andCSOs in Africa should be driven by African priorities and the AfricanUnion agenda. This, after all, was the spirit behind the New Partnershipfor Africa’s Development (NEPAD), which emphasised Africanownership and responsibility for the development of the continent.NEPAD emphasised political, economic and corporate governanceand also led to the creation of the African Peer Review Mechanism,which is a concrete example of the positive steps that African countriesare taking of their own accord to improve governance in Africa.A key objective of this forum should therefore be to find ways andmeans of strengthening the partnerships between CSOs and the AfricanUnion and the regional economic communities to support theAfrican development agenda.Integrating Africa283

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