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Date
: 24/11/2004
Source: Ministry of Social Development
Title: Skweyiya: Press Briefing on SADC Ministers of Social
Development meeting
BRIEFING NOTES FOR MINISTER'S PRESS CONFERENCE IN PREPARATION FOR
SADC MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
1. Background
During 1999 and 2000 the Minister of Social Development chaired the
SADC Ministerial Consultations on the implementation of the
outcomes of the World Summit for Social Development. The
consultations culminated with a SADC Statement of Intent on
Copenhagen which was subsequently submitted to the UN Special
Session on the review of Copenhagen + 5 held in Geneva during
2000.
Recommendations were also made to the SADC Council of Ministers to
consider establishing a structure that would look at implementation
of the outcomes of the Summit as social development issues in
general. The SADC Council at their meeting in Swaziland in 2001
deferred the decision due to the restructuring of SADC.
Prior to the restructuring of SADC institutions, SADC had 21 Sector
Coordinating Units based in various member states. While
coordination of health, education, employment and labour programmes
was institutionalised, issues of social integration, social
protection and integrated development including social services
were not coordinated at regional level, in other words there was no
specific sector coordinating coherent social development
programmes.
By invitation of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), the Minister of Social Development
Dr ZST Skweyiya participated at the Forum of Social Development
Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean, in Santiago Chile
from 9 - 11 June 2003.
Discussions between the Minister and UNESCO, led to a proposal to
explore possibilities of establishing a Network of African
Ministers of Social Development similar to the Latin America and
the Caribbean one.
The Minister proposed and UNESCO agreed that the process commence
with a meeting of Ministers of Social Development of the SADC
region. UNESCO therefore proposed that the Minister considers
inviting as observers at least one Minister from each African
Regional Organisation, to facilitate consultation on both the need
and viability of a region-wide meeting that could validate such a
network.
2. Process
The SADC Council of Ministers at the meetings in Tanzania and
Mauritius during March and August this year endorsed the need to
have the meeting of social development of the sub – region to
review the implementation of the outcomes of the 1995 World Summit
on Social Development.
The agenda of the Ministerial Meeting would be based on the review
of Copenhagen + 10, linking it with the priorities of the SADC
Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan and planning ahead
on how to contribute to the NEPAD process. The initiative aims to
promote dialogue and cooperation and should not be seen as a
replacement for any existing structures at both SADC and AU levels,
but simply as a mechanism to facilitate dialogue and exchange in
responding to social development.
Although this is a SADC Meeting a number of countries have been
identified to participate as observers to allow for facilitation of
similar discussions in other sub-regions of Africa, these include
Mali, Senegal and Nigeria. Since social development is a key
concern of the developing world the Minister from Peru will also
provide an overview on behalf of the Latin American and Caribbean
Forum for Social Development in their capacity as chair.
The Meeting is scheduled to take place in Cape Town from 25 –
27 November 2004, 25 – 26 being the senior officials meeting
and 27 will be the Ministerial meeting. The meeting is expected to
produce a sub-regional (SADC) report on the implementation of the
outcomes of the World Summit for Social Development. The report
would be submitted to the UN Special Session on the review of
Copenhagen +10 in 2005. It is expected that the 43rd Session of the
UN Commission for Social Development, which will be chaired by
South Africa, would deal with the review of Copenhagen steering the
discussions towards linking the implementation of Copenhagen and
MDGs with the development and implementation of the social
objectives of NEPAD.
The general objectives of the initiative are as follows:
* To establish a of Network African Ministers of Social
Development
* To promote sharing of experiences and best practices in the area
of social development
* Strengthen ties and cooperation between African leaders and its
peoples
* Facilitate harmonisation of social development policies as well
as move towards a more united Africa when engaging with the global
community.
Enquiries: Mbulelo Musi
Cell: 082 904 3395
Issued by: Ministry of Social Development
24 November 2004
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