Draft report

Abstract

The seventeenth meeting of the Technical Preparatory Committee of the Whole (TEPCOW) was held under the theme, "Meeting the challenges of African Development in-the Twenty-first Century: The role of the Economic Commission for Africa", was of great significance to the future of the continent and to all the people of Africa. ECA was an important tool for galvanizing African states to overcome. various challenges, broaden and accelerate development on a sustainable basis, end poverty, and reverse Africa's marginalization from the world political and economic system. No other institution was better placed than ECA to deliver to member States such development services, Therefore, the renewal of ECA and its re-orientation articulated in the new strategic directions document was a most compelling item on the agenda.