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Southern Africa: Mauritius - Conference Lays Out Strategies Against Poverty in SADC
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Angola Press Agency (Luanda)
21 April 2008
Posted to the web 21 April 2008
Luanda
The heads of State and Government of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) countries approved last Sunday, in Port Louis, Mauritius Island, strategies to reduce poverty and promote sustainable development.
Angolan Prime Minister Fernando da Piedade Dias dos Santos, in representation of President José Eduardo dos Santos, headed the Angolan delegation to the event, which discussed goals to reduce poverty by 2015.
According to the Planning minister, Ana Dias Lourenço, who spoke to the press at the end of the conference, the heads of State reaffirmed the need for SADC to carry out its strategies and programmes to fight poverty.
It was also emphasised the need for passing to actions, materialising the plans that can lessen and fight poverty in the region.
The Planning minister informed that priorities to develop SADC are outlined in the declaration approved in the conference.
As she said, the infrastructures problem, the regional economic integration of commerce and gender were considered as priority and fundamental to guarantee a sustainable growth and development in the region, so as to fight poverty.
The participants reaffirmed the need to deepen public/private partnerships with civil society representatives, with a view to implementing actions to fight poverty.
They also showed the necessity for financial development in the region, valuing the granting of micro-credit especially to women, but also to communities in general.
Meanwhile, SADC chairman, Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa, considered the conference rewarding, due to the fact that the heads of State and government or their representatives have affirmed their commitment to the reduction of poverty and achievement of the millennium objectives, mainly the guarantee of better living standards for the citizens, until 2015.
Also the president of Zambia appealed to cooperation and development partners in order to create facilities of access to funding.
"We have to make a pragmatic change in domains of infrastructures and SADC", he emphasised.
Top level governmental representatives from South Africa, Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho and Swaziland participated in the summit.
The gathering was also attended by the President of the Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros, the Norwegian Prime Minister, the Vice President of Seychelles, the European commissioner for assistance and development, Common wealth secretary general and one representative of Brazil and social partners of various countries.
The meeting analysed the agenda of regional integration of SADC towards economic growth, poverty eradication, social and environmental dimensions in the region.
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Angola participated in the conference with the Planning minister, Ana Dias Lourenço, the advisor of the Angolan President for regional issues, Albina Assis, and the deputy ministers of Agriculture and Rural Development , Filomena Delgado, of Commerce, Cruz Neto, and Foreign Affairs, George Chicoty.
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