A/RES/67/259 Political declaration on the peaceful resolution of conflicts in Africa international partners, of the 2006 United Nations–African Union Ten-year Capacity-building Programme for the African Union, focusing mainly on peace and security. 21. We commend Africa on its recent economic performance, which has sparked renewed optimism about the continent’s prospects for development as an emerging centre of growth and a vibrant market. We underline in particular that the African continent has experienced unprecedented growth over the past decade and has been remarkably resilient to the global economic crisis. 22. We reaffirm that, despite recent considerable improvements, the special needs of the African continent, in line with the values and principles of the United Nations Millennium Declaration adopted by Heads of State and Government in September 2000 3 and as contained in the 2005 World Summit Outcome, have yet to be effectively addressed in order to achieve in a full and timely manner the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals. We further reaffirm our strong commitment to the ongoing discussions on sustainable development goals in the context of the post-2015 development agenda and emphasize that the development of these goals should not divert efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. 23. We acknowledge the New Partnership for Africa’s Development 4 as a blueprint for the economic uplifting of the African continent, and welcome with appreciation the substantial progress made by the African countries in fulfilling their commitments, in particular through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme, the African Peer Review Mechanism, the African Union Presidential Infrastructure Champion Initiative, led by Member States and regional organizations in support of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa, and the African Bioscience and Information Communication Technology Initiative. We also emphasize the need to integrate the implementation of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development within the post-2015 sustainable development goals in order to promote sustainable growth and development and deepen democracy, human rights, good governance and sound economic management and gender equality. 24. We recognize that more attention should be given to Africa and the implementation of previously agreed commitments related to its development needs that were made at major United Nations summits and conferences, noting that progress is still lagging in implementing those commitments, and in this regard we underscore the key priority for the international community of supporting Africa’s sustainable development efforts and stress the need to fully implement those internationally agreed commitments, particularly those contained in the United Nations Millennium Declaration, the United Nations Declaration on the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, 5 the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development, 6 the Plan of Implementation of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg Plan of Implementation), 7 the _______________ 3 Resolution 55/2. A/57/304, annex. 5 Resolution 57/2. 6 Report of the International Conference on Financing for Development, Monterrey, Mexico, 18–22 March 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.02.II.A.7), chap. I, resolution 1, annex. 7 Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Johannesburg, South Africa, 26 August– 4 September 2002 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.03.II.A.1 and corrigendum), chap. I, resolution 2, annex. 4 4/5