News Release
For immediate release
10 April 2008

High hopes for the upcoming SADC international conference on poverty and development

Civil society organisations have expressed high expectations on the upcoming SADC International Conference on Poverty and Development to be held on 18-20 April 2008 in Mauritius.
They said the conference is significant as it intends to be a dialogue on the need for practical regional plans to overcome poverty in southern Africa.
“Concrete strategies should emerge from the conference and all member states should be able to commit resources to implement the outcomes in order to eradicate poverty in the region,” said Abie Ditlhake, Secretary General of the SADC Council of Non Governmental Organisations (SADC-CNGO).

Moses Kachima, Executive Secretary of the Southern African Trade Union Co-ordination Council (SATUCC) adds that, “Instead of re-inventing the wheel, we expect the conference to be informed by the 2004 declaration on employment creation and poverty alleviation from African Union’s Ouagadougu Conference which most of the region’s member states endorsed. To eradicate poverty, employment should be created.” Kachima said that member states should have a common approach to ensure that foreign investments in the region adhere to strict international labour standards.

For the private sector, improving trade conditions in the region is crucial. According to Jerry Vilakazi, chairperson of the SADC Employers Group, “constraints like immigration laws make it difficult for skilled workers to move around within the SADC community, slowing economies where their skills are needed.”

Regional integration advisor at the Southern Africa Trust, Themba Mhlongo, expects the conference to reaffirm that the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) remains the regional framework to guide SADC in achieving the development objectives of the region. “However”, he added, “the conference should come up with clear poverty-focused interventions in the implementation of the RISDP and the Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO) for Politics and Defense”.

The conference is a first of its kind that will have the civil society, business, donors, and governments in the region under one roof to focus on how to overcome poverty in southern Africa.
Civil society organisations including the SADC Council of Non Governmental Organisations (SADC CNGO), Southern African Trade Union Coordination Council (SATUCC), Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa, and the SADC Employers Group (Private Sector) will meet from 16-17 April 2008 at La plantation Hotel, Port Louis, Mauritius to prepare themselves for effective participation at the conference.

The Southern Africa Trust is an independent, regional, non-profit agency established to support deeper and wider engagement in policy dialogue to overcome poverty in southern Africa. It has worked with organisations in southern Africa to prepare for the conference.

For more information, contact;

Mpho Kgosidintsi or Petronilla Ndebele
Tel: +27 11 318 1012
Mobile: +27 78 459 0152 or 078 458 9969
Email: communications@southernafricatrust.org