4 February 2007… The meetings of the Sixteenth round of the NEPAD Implementation Committee Summit were held on 28 January 2007 in Addis Ababa, with the participation of the Presidents and representatives of the five NEPAD founding countries, including Egypt, along with the 20 members of the Committee. The Egyptian delegation was headed by the Foreign Minister who represented the President. 1-At the beginning of the meetings, the Nigerian President and Chairman of the NEPAD Implementation Committee, Obasanjo, delivered a statement in which he affirmed the importance of the NEPAD Initiative and its role in pushing comprehensive development efforts forward in Africa. He also pointed out the progress achieved in the political, economic, and social fields, and the significance of the African Peer Review Mechanism, which was established within the NEPAD framework to improve administration, develop policies, enhance democratic practices, and apply international standards in economic administration in the African countries. 2- President Obasanjo also referred to the NEPAD role in supporting cooperation with the development partners to support the African efforts exerted to achieve the initiative’s goals, since it is considered the AU programme for achieving comprehensive development in Africa. 3- The Executive Manager of the NEPAD Secretariat presented his regular report on the NEPAD activities during the past six months, where he reviewed the achieved progress in pushing forward the implementation of the work programmes in various sectoral priorities, especially in the fields of enhancing peace and security in Africa, implementing the infrastructure programmes within the framework of “Africa Work Plan”, as well as the comprehensive agricultural development programme, and information technology. The report also reviewed education development, combating AIDS and Malaria, as well as the exerted efforts to enhance cooperation with the development partners through the “Africa Partnership Forum”, which includes the personal representatives of the African Presidents whose countries are members of the NEPAD Implementation Committee, and their G8 and OECD counterparts. 4- The Executive Manager stressed on the importance of utilizing the positive stance of the current German Presidency of the Group of eight industrial countries (G8) and the European Union and its support for the African issues and priorities to support and deepen cooperation with development partners in order to implement the NEPAD objectives. This would be achieved through the forum's upcoming meetings in Berlin in May 2007, and through the anticipated meeting which will include the presidents of the five founding countries of the NEPAD, including Egypt, and the presidents of the G8 countries during their upcoming summit in June 2007. 5- It was agreed to discuss merging the NEPAD into the AU structure, according to the Maputo Declaration in July 2003, during the next African Union Summit in Accra in July 2007. 6- The Ethiopian Prime Minister was elected head of the Implementation Committee as of May 2005, with the end of Obsanjo's term of office as President of Nigeria.