The Office of the ANC Chief Whip welcomes Parliament's hosting of the two-day Women's Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) today, 30 August, and Tuesday 31 August 2010. The Summit coincides with the conclusion of the Women's Month celebrations.
South Africa and other UN member states ten years ago agreed on a set of development goals which center on halving poverty and improving the welfare of the world's poorest by 2015.
This important Summit therefore brings together women from various sectors of our society to reflect on our country's progress and challenges in the implementation of these goals.
Parliament plays a critical role in ensuring that the process of implementing these goals is intensified through exercising robust oversight over the Executive.
We are confident that through forums such as these, parliament's continuous engagement with the MDGs can be strengthened and translate into more effective programmes aimed at enabling our country to meet these development targets.
We are confident that the declarations that will be adopted at the end of this Summit will go a long way in enhancing our country's progress in the implementation of MDGs-related programmes ahead of 2015.
We wish all participants to this important national dialogue a success.