The 2022 edition of the Africa Dialogue Series (ADS), the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (OSAA)’s annual flagship event takes place throughout Africa month in May.

This year’s ADS theme is “Build resilience in nutrition: Accelerate Africa's human capital and socio-economic development.”

It draws from the African Union’s theme for the year: “Strengthening resilience in nutrition and food security on the African continent: Strengthening agro-food systems, health, and social protection systems for the acceleration of human, social and economic capital development.”

The theme is aligned to Aspiration 1 of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which envisions a prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development, a key goal of which is to ensure a continent of healthy and well-nourished citizens. It is also linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2, which aims to end hunger and malnutrition by 2030, as well as increase agricultural productivity and ensure sustainable food production systems.

Each week of the ADS will focus on a different sub-theme and will be led by partners who specialize in the area of focus as follows:

Week 1 - Building Resilient Socio-Agricultural Food Systems: The Key to Nutrition led by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA)
Week 2 - Strengthening the Resilience of Farming Systems: Land, Digital transformation and Access to Finance – making smallholder farmers the backbones led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
Week 3 - Social Protection’s Role in Enhancing Food Security and Nutrition for Greater Resilience in Africa led by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Labour Organization (ILO)
Week 4 - Human Capital Development, Climate, Energy and Food Systems led by the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, UN Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), and OSAA

The last week of the ADS will culminate in a two-day High-Level Policy Dialogue that brings together policymakers, researchers, civil society representatives, academics, representatives from the AU and UN entities and other stakeholders.

A key outcome of this ADS 2022 will be a “call to action” that garners the engagement of African governments at the highest level and rallies the international community’s support to strengthen the resilience of agro-food systems, health, and social protection to accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2063 and the SDGs.

Launched in 2018, the ADS is an interactive platform for policy and decision-makers, civil society, experts and academics to discuss and debate challenges and opportunities for Africa. Over time, the ADS has become an important instrument for implementing OSAA’s advocacy mandate. To ensure that the event echoes the priorities of the African Union and the African Member States, each year’s edition of the ADS focuses on the theme that the African Union adopts for the year to contribute to and enhance the visibility of the AU’s efforts. It also provides a platform to promote innovative ideas and recommendations related to each year’s theme.

This year’s broad and inclusive ADS activities provide an opportunity to increase the participation of a cross-section of people in discussions about the continent.