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Southern Africa: High-level Dialogue Links Regional Integration and Poverty Reduction

Southern African countries are meeting in Mauritius this week to discuss concrete strategies to advance regional integration and poverty eradication.

Poverty reduction goals have remained elusive in the region despite a wealth of natural resources, and poverty levels, which are often associated with unexploited productive potential, inequalities within countries, and in the global economy.

The conference on poverty and development is intended to provide a platform for dialogue among member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and senior business and civil society leaders from the region as well as international cooperating partners.

Regional civil society organisations have held a series of national and regional meetings to prepare for the conference, resulting in the production of three main platform position papers, including a discussion document, a draft declaration, and an advocacy programme of action on poverty.

A final preparatory workshop in Mauritius ahead of the high-level consultations will afford civil society organisations an opportunity to technically prepare delegates to participate more effectively as they articulate the broader civil society mandate.

The pre-conference workshop on 16-17 April will also allow civil society groups to agree on common positions so as to present strategies for discussion, as well as developing a cohesive message for the conference.

The SADC International Consultative Conference on Poverty and Development to be held from18-20 April is a high-level dialogue between the 14 member states of SADC and its stakeholders at ministerial level and will also involve senior business and civil society leaders from the region to engage in policy dialogue, forge consensus, and review progress of the SADC economic integration agenda, with emphasis on poverty eradication.

Under the theme "Regional Economic Integration: A Strategy for Poverty Eradication towards Sustainable Development", the conference will discuss strategies, commitments and resources needed to deepen SADC's regional economic integration goals and accelerate the implementation of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

SADC Heads of State and Government will be in attendance for the third day of the conference and participate in a number of panel discussions, together with selected Heads of State and Government from other regions of Africa, Asia, South America and Europe.

International Cooperating Partners (ICPs) will also participate, many at a senior government level.

This conference is expected to be a milestone towards poverty eradication in the region, and to lay the foundations for a new global partnership for SADC for this purpose. The conference will also assess the challenges toward achievement of the MDGs in the SADC region.

SADC is currently implementing a long-term plan for the region called the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), which identifies poverty as "one of the major development challenges facing the SADC region" and assigns top priority to poverty eradication, achieving sustainable economic growth and deepening economic integration.

Participants from regional civil society organisations have expressed high expectations, saying the conference is significant as it provides a platform for dialogue on strengthening practical regional plans to overcome poverty in southern Africa.

The Secretary-General of the SADC Council of Non Governmental Organisations (SADC-CNGO), Abie Ditlhake, said, "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."

Moses Kachima, Executive Secretary of the Southern African Trade Union Co-ordination Council (SATUCC), adds that, "Instead of re-inventing the wheel, we hope that the conference will be informed by the 2004 declaration on employment creation and poverty alleviation from the African Union's Ouagadugu Conference which most of the region's member states endorsed. To eradicate poverty, employment should be created."

A common approach is needed, for example, to ensure that foreign investment in the region adheres 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 (SAT), Themba Mhlongo, expects the conference to reaffirm that the SADC RISDP remains the regional framework to guide SADC in achieving the development objectives of the region.

He however added that, "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 Defence."

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. sardc.net

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