Pretoria — The outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) not only reinforced the Millennium Declaration Goals (MDG) but also gave them impetus by further developing and elaborating on them.

Social development department Director-General Vusi Madonsela said this in Johannesburg today, at the opening of the United Nations Sub-Regional Conference for Southern Africa on Millennium Declaration Goals Forum.

The three-day forum is being held to help develop sub-regional programmes to assist in the implementation of the millennium goals at regional, sub regional and national levels.

The goals emanated from the United Nations Millennium Summit held in New York, US in September 2000.

It was there that world leaders agreed, amongst others, to reduce the number of people affected by poverty by half and those who unable to have clean water by the year 2015.

The leaders also resolved to take action to strengthen peace, development, human rights and to improve the UN's ability to act on behalf of humanity's priorities.

South Africa then hosted the UN WSSD, which further reinforced the importance of the millennium declaration goals.

Addressing delegates, Mr Madonsela said the conference offered the leaders an opportunity for debate, common resolve and concerted action among policy makers, social scientists, and activists in the region and the developing world.

'... leaders at this conference are to make an individual and collective contribution to the Millennium Development Goals and reshaping Africa's destiny,' said Mr Madonsela.

He added that without collaboration across the people of the developing nations, the goals to which the countries were committed, could not be realised.

He said it was important that the UN's General Assembly in September resolve to support the New Partnership for Africa's Development (Nepad) and also the decision in February by the Commission for Social Development within the UN to link social development to Nepad.

'For us the most important challenge is to translate all these Resolutions and the MDG into concrete programmes and projects nationally and regionally that will secure a better quality life for our peoples,' said the director-general.

Mr Madonsela said although many different views were presented on the main challenges facing the world's people during the Millennium Summit, the intensity of the challenges was different for each region of the world and for each country.

'The peoples of this sub region and Africa... share the same objectives, ideals and values. For us social justice and solidarity mean collectively accepting the responsibility to address the global social development challenges facing our people,' he added.

The conference is being attended by amongst others the UN Development Programme (UNDP) regional coordinator for Africa Mr A Janneh, the UNDP resident coordinator, John Ohiohennan former Zambian President, Kenneth Kaunda, ministers, parliamentarians and private sector leaders from the African continent.

South Africa hosted the United Nations WSSD in September last year. -