Assembly/AU/Dec.685(XXX) Page 1 DECISION ON THE NEW PARTNERSHIP FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT (NEPAD) Doc. Assembly/AU/12(XXX) The Assembly, 1. NOTES WITH APPRECIATION the Report by the Chairperson of the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC), H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; 2. REAFFIRMS the continued relevance and uniqueness of accelerating the implementation of Agenda 2063 and, the vehicle to enhance multi-sectoral and integrated approach to deliver transformative results as enshrined in the NEPAD Programme and the role that the NEPAD Agency plays and that will be reinforced in the proposed transition of the NEPAD Agency into the African Union Development Agency; 3. REASSERTS the essential role played by the NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) in the provision of political leadership and strategic direction to the NEPAD programme; 4. TAKES NOTE of the implementation of key national, regional and continental programmes and projects as reflected in the NEPAD Agency Results-based Performance Report for January-December 2017 SPECIFICALLY NOTING the progress of implementing key continental policies and frameworks such as Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA), Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), Capacity Development Strategic Framework (CDSF), Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Plan of Africa (PMPA), and Rural Futures; 5. COMMENDS the NEPAD Agency for the development and implementation of the Blueprint (policy framework) to Implement Rural Development Policies in Africa” and FURTHER REQUESTS the NEPAD Agency, with the support of development partners, to develop projects and programmes for the operationalisation of the Blueprint through the application of geo-spatial planning and remote sensing technologies; 6. RECOGNIZES sustainable tourism as one of Africa’s engines of growth and development and APPRECIATES the contributions of the NEPAD Agency and its partners towards sustainable tourism in Africa, through the implementation of the NEPAD Tourism Action Plan (TAP) of 2004 the progress made in the development the NEPAD Policy Framework on Youth Employment in Africa. REQUESTS the NEPAD Agency and development partners to update the Tourism Action Plan, as well as to create programmes and projects to support the domestication of the tourism-related sections of Agenda 2063; 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly, 28- 29 January 2018, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia