Programme Director
President of the South African Red Cross Society, Mr Isaiah Modisha
Secretary General of the South African Red Cross Society Ms Mandisa Kalako-Williams
President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Socities Mr Juan Suarez del Toro R
Secretary General Mr Bekele Geleta
Chairman of Standing Commission Mr Mohammed Al-Hadid
United Nation Secretary General Special Envoy Mr Cheick Sidi Diarra
Her Royal Highness Princess Magriet of Netherlands
Minister of Health of Sudan Her Excellency Dr Tabita Boutors Shokai
Distinguished guests
Ladies and gentlemen.

It is indeed a great honour for me to be standing here this morning to open this important 7th Pan African Conference of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Naturally, as the government and people of the Republic of South Africa we are excited and motivated by your consideration and decision to hold your conference in our country. It is for this reason that we found no difficulty in making required resources available for the successful hosting of this gathering of men and women united by one goal of giving hope to those of us who are vulnerable.

Our commitment as government and the people of South Africa to the renewal of our continent is well known.

As we start with our conference this morning, let us do so mindful of the many people across our continent and indeed the world whose hope for a better tomorrow has been shattered by poverty, malnutrition, disease and conflict. They look upon us for a change in their plight. They look upon us for a renewal in their hope. We cannot fail, and we dare not fail them, for in doing so we will be plunging our continent and its people to eternal pain and suffering.

I do not think that as you meet here in Johannesburg over the next few days you are doing so with the aim of re-inventing the wheel. When you met in Ouagadougou in 2000 resulting in what became known as the Ouagadougou Declaration, you identified Basic Healthcare, HIV and AIDS, Food Security and Institutional Capacity Building as your priorities for the first four years of the decade.

Four years later in Algiers, concerns were raised in the face of the increased number of natural disasters and conflicts, the growing health threats and food security and the need to do more as far as these issues were concerned. Based on these realities, you then expressed your determination for action aimed at responding more effectively to the humanitarian crisis facing the populations of our countries. What was even more telling and encouraging for most of us however was the decision you took to define your role and relations with governments, civil society, private sector, international community and other stakeholders as far as your work as the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is concerned.

I am convinced in my mind therefore that, this Johannesburg gathering will take stock of how much progress has been made since Algiers in 2004 and also come with concrete plans leading up to your next Conference 2012.

Chair of the Conference, as all of us gathered here today would know, this Conference comes at a critical moment in the history of our continent and the world as a whole.

On the natural front, the world and humanity is faced with the ever-increasing phenomenon of climate change. As most of us here would know, this phenomenon has a far-reaching impact on the ability of mankind to produce food through agricultural programmes and this impacts on food security, a factor that threatens the long-term survival of humanity.

Secondly, this phenomenon leads to real health problems as a result of natural disasters that are at times brought about by disasters such as floods and other extreme weather patters. I wish to commend the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies for putting this issue on the top of its agenda.

On the continental front, we are beginning to see this ray of hope as far as resolving the many conflicts that our continent has been exposed is concerned. It is these conflicts that have displaced families and communities and gave birth to countless orphans whose life has been marked by untold hardship and suffering. It is also these same conflicts that have robbed our continent and its nations of opportunities for economic growth and thus depriving it of opportunities to compete fairly in the global economy. We therefore have to applaud every move in our continent that is aimed at resolving these conflicts or averting them where and when their threat of eruption becomes real.

It is however also important to note that this Conference also takes place during the time when our continent is still facing many problems that continue to compromise the quality of life of its people.

These problems range from displacement, poverty, malnutrition, disease to the lack of healthcare infrastructure due to years of under-investment and neglect. This is despite the ongoing and tireless efforts of governments, community groups and organizations such as the Red Cross and Red Crescent to seek solutions to these problems.

The United Nations has already sent out a warning just last month that Africa may not be on track to achieve its targets on the Millenium Development Goals. We have to be worried and we have to act. As succinctly outlined in its theme "Together for Action in Africa", we have to act together as governments and civil society in the continent to address these problems.

In its latest Report on World Health Statistics for instance, the World Health Organisation (WHO) continues to draw our attention to the scourge of HIV and AIDS that continues to decimate our populations. In this Report for instance, Sub-Saharan Africa continues to be the region most affected by this disease.

In 2007, one in every three people in the world living with HIV lived in Sub-Saharan Africa, a total of 22.5million. Although other regions are less severely affected, 4 million people in South and South-East Asia and 1.6 million in Eastern Europe and central Asia were living with HIV and AIDS over the same period.

These statistics, especially in as far as they relate to our continent and the region in particular emphasise a need for us to invest more effort and resources in tackling this problem. I am aware Chair of the Conference that in one of the Commissions in this Conference you will be dealing with this issue, of course within the context of infectious or communicable diseases. I have no doubt in my mind that as you discuss this matter, you will do so mindful of the Johannesburg Declaration and what it will call on us to do as governments and civil society in addressing HIV and AIDS and other communicable diseases.

Chair of the Conference, let me however also draw the attention of this conference to diseases, especially non-communicable diseases such as malaria, cancers and cardio-vascular diseases that also place a huge burden on our countries' health systems, economies and generally impact on the quality of life of our people. It is a known fact for instance that 80% of the global burden of malaria occurs in our continent.

I wish to make a call to all delegates to scale up efforts that will ensure collaboration in reducing this figure. What we need out of this Conference are clear plans that will indicate to us as governments how best we can tackle this problem, on an individual country level, country-to-country but also regional level. This is what the millions of people across the continent expect, and they are right in their expectation.

Chair of the Conference, the next issue that I wish to address myself to is the increasing phenomenon of child-headed households that we are seeing in our communities. Amongst others, this sorry state of our social life is caused by diseases and armed conflicts that deprive our continent's children of parenting and deprive them of opportunities in life.

Long before they are ready for adult responsibilities, this phenomenon exposes our children to assuming such responsibilities with very little or no guidance at all. They miss out on education. They become exposed to sex work that in turn exposes them to diseases. They become attractive to warlords who use them as child soldiers in fighting wars that destroy infrastructure, destroy economies and further contribute towards under-development.

These children also look upon us as we meet here to come up with plans to make theirs a better life. We have to come up with clear plans detailing how we intend to address issues of sustainable livelihoods and volunteer management especially in as far as they relate to these children.

Migration remains another factor that continues to prevail in our societies as a result of political and civil instability and the quest for better economic opportunities and other opportunities that people expect in life. I am glad that this Conference has identified migration as one of the issues to deal with given the impact that it has on individuals, families and communities. As you discuss this matter in your commissions, do so mindful of the many dangers that migration exposes people to including the ever-present danger of xenophobia and accompanying violence that we see in many parts of the world. We had an unfortunate experience of witnessing this kind of violence in our country during the last few months.

As government and people of the Republic of South Africa we stood up and condemned that unfortunate incident. Such acts of violence however should serve as a constant reminder for all of us to work tirelessly in our quest of building social cohesion and common humanity.

In conclusion, I am looking forward with enthusiasm to the Memorandum of Understanding that as government of the Republic of South Africa we will be signing with the South African Red Cross Society in the new future. I wish to assure this Conference that this MoU will be signed as soon as our legal teams have finalized all the legal issues pertaining to agreements of this kind. I would like to call on governments in the continent to also consider entering into such agreements so that we can see this organization become more active in their countries, as part of its service to humanity. We note with hope the work that the Red Cross is doing in Zimbabwe as part of this service to humanity.

This Memorandum will enable us as government to cooperate in supporting the development of the Red Cross Society and the Red Cross Air Mercy Service Trust in our country. Most important however, will be the ability of the Red Cross Society to strengthen its capacity to provide high-quality programming and services, especially in the community healthcare and disaster management sectors to the most vulnerable in our country. We remain confident that this five-year agreement will indeed elevate our healthcare capacity to another level, including our own preparedness as we plan for the hosting of the biggest sporting event in the globe, the FIFA 2010 soccer world cup.

Let me wish you well in your deliberations. Like the millions of our people across the continent we will be looking forward with hope and anticipation to the outcomes of this conference. For delegates coming outside of our country, please enjoy your stay in South Africa. Enjoy the warmth of its people. Enjoy the arts and culture of your brothers and sisters in the southern tip of our continent. Their hands have been opened to ensure that your stay in their country is a memorable one.

I declare this 7th Pan African Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies officially open.

Thank you very much.