Arab-African ministers of finance meet in Marrakesh to prepare for world child summit

The Moroccan city of Marrakesh hosts May 21-23 a conference of Arab and African finance ministers to prepare for the World Child Summit, due next September 19-21 at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

The meeting, held under the topic "resources and financing of the child's cause," will be attended by several African heads of state and outstanding figures. The President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, the president of Guinea Bissau, Koumba Yala, the President of Mauritius Island, Cassam Uteem, and former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, have already arrived in Morocco to attend the ministerial meeting.

The conference works, to unfold at the level of three plenary sessions, a reflection committee and a NGO forum, will analyze priorities set for children promotion, assess resources injected to this end and study means to ensure a sound financing of objectives.

The first plenary session will assess the situation of children in Africa and the Arab World and will set priorities for child promotion.

The second session will examine funding problems and assess public budgets earmarked for children.

The third session will study means to upgrade partnership between the various actors concerned by child promotion: state, local communities, NGOs, financial institutions and regional and international organizations.

The NGOs forum will identity institutional difficulties and financial constraints hampering their action.

The reflection committee will deepen study on solutions for a better mobilization of financial resources in favor of child promotion.

The encounter will be attended by several Arab and African finance ministers and senior officials from several international organizations and specialized agencies active in child protection and promotion.