ADDIS ABABA: Today Egypt was elected to chair the second session of the United Nations Economic Committee for Human and Social Development in Africa. The decision came during a meeting at the UN Conference Center in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The session will last for two years and will be chaired by an advisor to the Egyptian Minister of Solidarity and Social Justice, Ahmed Abu el-Kheir. The committee meetings began in Addis Ababa Tuesday under the title, "Applying social policy for sustainable development." It will discuss means of decreasing poverty, supporting sustainable development, health, gender equality and women's empowerment, caring about youth and children, combating AIDS, Tuberculosis and other infectious diseases, and distributing population and international immigration. The committee, concerned human and social development, submitted a report about the programs scheduled to be carried out. The report also covered the development level of African countries in achieving the Millennium Development Goals. The committee also previewed policies on social protection, international immigration and climate change. The committee discussed the efforts of African countries in preparation for the UN conference on Sustainable Development, Rio+20, which will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil on June 4-6.
