UN Deputy Secretary-General chairs Nairobi meeting

The first Annual Regional Coordination Meeting of the UN system in Africa was held at the UN Office in Nairobi on Friday. A UN press release said the gathering was part of a series of meetings convened to discuss enhanced coordination of UN system activities at the regional level. The meeting was chaired by UN Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette and was attended by representatives of 23 UN agencies working in Africa. Participants underscored the need for strengthening existing cooperation mechanisms at the country as well as the regional and sub-regional levels. They also stressed the need for periodic review of the achievement of UN goals and objectives for Africa. The meeting agreed that the UN system-wide Special Initiative on Africa could “provisionally constitute an appropriate mechanism” for UN system coordination in Africa, the statement said.