The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has announced that it has finalized preparations to host the sixth Global Geospatial Information Management for Africa (UN-GGIM) Committee meeting. The meeting is going to be held from the 1st to the 4th of December.
The committee is a part of the UN Economic and Social Council and was formed in 2011. Its purpose is to create a global and integrated team of experts and data management system among member states. UN-GGIM Africa has as its mission the use of geospatial products and resources to tackle ongoing socio-economic issues within the continent.
COVID-19 is going to be the main agenda of the sixth UN-GGIM Africa meeting. Novel challenges related to the virus within member states’ National Mapping Agencies are going to be addressed given the adversities these sectors have faced as a result of strategies adopted to contain and cope with the pandemic.
Evaluations are also going to be made of previous resolutions and strategies adopted during the previous meetings of the committee. Cooperation and coordination among African nations from the angle of geospatial information systems are also going to be addressed, especially in light of the looming launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement.
During the beginning of November, the 54th session of the Governing Council of the Regional Center for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) was held.
The Governing Council resolved that the development of National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) was identified as a prime concern to the continent but that many African countries were struggling to implement effective measures. Given the comprehensive steps the UN-GGIM has taken in developing NSDIs the council encouraged states to work closely with the committee.
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