Issued by: Department of Welfare
FIRST SOUTHERN AFRICAN MINISTERS MEETING TO DISCUSS POPULATION ISSUES IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
In follow-up to the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), South Africa and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) will co-host a Southern African Ministers Conference on Population and Development. This Conference will be the first meeting of ministers responsible for the population function in the countries within the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
The Conference will take place from 28-31 October 1996 in Pretoria. It will consist of an Expert Group Meeting of senior officials from 28-30 October 1996, followed by the Ministerial Meeting on 31 October 1996.
One of the main objectives for international cooperation in the field of population and development contained in the ICPD Programme of Action is to ensure a coordinated approach and clearer division of labour in population-related policy and operational aspects between countries. To coincide with this, the objectives of the conference will be to:
The Agenda items include population policy issues, capacity building for managing and implementing policy activities, population research, population information, education and communication, resource mobilisation, gender issues, reproductive health and population and poverty.
The South African delegation will be led by Minister Fraser-Moleketi, Minister for Welfare and Population Development and will comprise Ministers from other line function Ministries, provincial MEC's responsible for population will attend as observers as will 10 NGO's, Dr Nafis Sadik, Executive Director of the UNFPA and Under Secretary-General of the United Nations, will address the conference an international co-operation in this field.
Announcing the Conference Minister Fraser Moleketi, Minister for Welfare and Population Development stated that the importance of this conference for population and development co-operation compelled South Africa to seek the assistance of its neighbours and their co-operation.
As co-host Dr J Parsons, UNFPA Representative for South Africa, stated that the Conference would be a great milestone for Southern Africa, building upon the consensus reached at the ICPD. Dr Parsons commented that the formalisation of population in Southern Africa is critical in order to address issues of common concern in the sub-region issues such as migration, access to reproductive health and the improvement in the standards of living for all people.
Enquiries: Cornel van Rooyen Tel. (012) 320-1080. Fax. (012) 322-3702 23 October 1996