New Partnership for Africa’s Development: progress in implementation and international support A/RES/73/335 Union at its eleventh extraordinary session, held in Addis Ababa on 17 and 18 November 2018, on the institutional reform of the African Peer Review Mechanism; 29. Emphasizes African ownership of the African Peer Review Mechanism process, and invites the international community to support the efforts of African countries, at their request, in implementing their respective national programmes of action arising from the process; 30. Notes with concern that the preliminary data indicate that the net bilateral aid flows to Africa decreased by 4 per cent in 2018 compared with 2017 figures; 21 31. Reiterates that the fulfilment of all official development assistance commitments remains crucial, including the commitment by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance and 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance to least developed countries, is encouraged by those few countries that have met or surpassed their commitment to 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance and the target of 0.15 to 0.20 per cent of gross national income for official development a ssistance to least developed countries, and urges all others to step up efforts to increase their official development assistance and to make additional concrete efforts towards official development assistance targets; 32. Notes with appreciation the aspirations embedded in Agenda 2063 of the African Union to lift huge sections of the population out of poverty, improve incomes and catalyse economic and social transformation, and recognizes the importance of the international community helping African countries to achieve such goals, especially in the rural areas of the African continent; 33. Considers that innovative mechanisms of financing can make a positive contribution towards assisting developing countries in mobilizing additional resources for financing for development on a voluntary basis and that such financing should supplement and not be a substitute for traditional sources of financing, and, while highlighting the considerable progress on innovative sources of financing for development achieved to date, stresses the importance of scaling up present initiatives and developing new mechanisms, as appropriate; 34. Notes with concern Africa’s disproportionately low share of the volume of international trade, which stands at approximately 2.5 per cent and 3 per cent of world merchandise exports and imports, respectively, and 1.9 per cent and 3.1 p er cent of world service exports and imports, respectively, in 2018; 35. Expresses concern at the increased debt burden of some African countries, underlines the importance of debt crisis prevention and prudent debt management, calls for a comprehensive and sustainable solution to the external debt problems of African countries, including the challenge of undeclared or hidden debt, and recognizes the important role, on a case-by-case basis, of debt relief, including debt cancellation, as appropriate, the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, debt restructuring and any other mechanism; 36. Welcomes the collaboration between the African Private Sector Forum and the United Nations Global Compact, and encourages the further enhancement of this partnership in conjunction with the African Union Commission in support of the development of the African private sector and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, in line with the relevant executive decisions of the African Union; __________________ 21 8/11 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development press release, “Development aid drops in 2018, especially to neediest countries”, 10 April 2019. 19-15588