Chaired by the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the African Union and the UNECA, Ambassador Mohamed Arrouchi, this meeting held by videoconference examined the activities of the Secretariat from January to March of the current year, as well that the situation regarding the spread of COVID-19 in Africa and its economic impact on the countries of the Continent.

The exchange of views focused on the key events that marked the first quarter of the year, namely the African Business Forum held on February 11 in Addis Ababa, on the sidelines of the 33rd summit of the African Union, the participation of the UNECA secretariat at this summit, the 6th African Regional Forum for Sustainable Development hosted by Zimbabwe from February 24 to 27 and the Special Session of the Regional Coordination Mechanism for Africa (RCM-Africa).

The session also covered the 2nd meeting of the African Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe on February 24, the 51st session of the Statistical Commission in New York on March3-6, the Technical Review Meeting on Kenya's National Strategy for the Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Process, the High Level Political Dialogue on Land Policy Reform and socio-economic transformation in southern Africa held in Botswana in January and the production of knowledge and information sharing.

The Permanent Representative of the Kingdom to the AU and the UNECA called on the Secretariat to further explain the concrete actions undertaken by the UNECA in order to assist member states to face COVID-19, and to make more efforts in this regard.