The global and regional context presents us with many new challenges. The varied impacts of this phase of globalization has created a new urgency for us to respond to poverty, social inequality, human rights abuses and issues of inequity. While our Governments and organizations of civil society need to respond in a more coordinated and strategic manner to the problems within the region, this response requires a supportive and peaceful regional and international environment. While much can be done to strengthen its response, international agreements on free and fair trade and the promotion of peace and justice are critical.
Our experience in the region has shown that while the rhetoric of social development and human rights is impressive, this rhetoric has not been translated into action. The terms of international trade have worsened and financial resources have declined in SADC. Further, debt servicing and a lack of economic growth have had negative impacts on our Governments’ capacity to deliver on social development. For many of our countries social services are dwindling, the poorest people are having to pay for basic services such as water, health care and education to name a few. We therefore support the call for debt cancellation.
Recent disasters in the Southern African region, especially the floods in Mozambique and other parts of Southern Africa, demonstrate the inadequacy of national and regional capacity to manage the economic and social devastation of these shocks. Clearly, there is a need to anticipate, prevent and offset negative social and economic consequences through effective regional and national strategies supported by appropriate international aid. Conflicts, ongoing wars and struggles over the distribution of resources continue to beset the region. Such conflicts have diverted resources from social development.
Experiences in Sub Saharan Africa point to the inadequacy of existing policy prescriptions to respond sufficiently and effectively to the challenges of poverty and economic development within a globalising world. Human Development Indicators for the SADC region have been drastically affected by the devastating impacts of HIV/AIDS. Almost one third of school–age children in Africa are still without access to any form of basic services, i.e. health, education etc.
The SADC region affirms the role of education as a priority for human development. In this regard we will review our educational systems to ensure that knowledge and skills are geared to entrepreneurship. Social service provision in many countries has deteriorated and social security arrangements have weakened. All these factors have affected Governments’ capacity in the region to respond to poverty.
The links between the Beijing Declaration on women and the WSSD commitments need to be made and reinforced. Women still bear the brunt of economic and social crises and very little progress has been made to improve their status. However, the SADC declaration on Gender and Development leads the way in providing strategic guidelines for action. These guidelines have to be translated into reality through national programs. However gender desegregated information is essential for the development of policies and programs.
The Treaty To Reserve Intellectual Property has disadvantaged many of our countries. As a region that is suffering the worst epidemic of HIV/AIDS, we need to develop a position to ensure that issues of survival and health care are not simply left to the vagaries of markets. Certain medicines and drugs that are central to the treatment of HIV/AIDS should be affordable. We therefore urge the international community to integrate the ethics of human development into trade negotiations.
Economic growth in the region has been negligible and unemployment has increased. For the region, the goal of full employment and the creation of meaningful jobs have been undermined by the marginalisation of Africa from arrangement for free and fair regional and world trade. Resource constraints have seriously limited the regions’ ability to promote work even through labour intensive public works programs. Much needed investments in infra structural and rural development initiatives have been set back by external debt and macro economic constraints. Both trade and macro economic policies need to incorporate issues of gender equality and equity into their objectives.
Agricultural development and secondary agro-industry needs to be promoted within an effective and sustainable land use framework. These initiatives must be promoted in ways that lead to the development of assets, capabilities and livelihoods of the poorest people.
The region has experienced an increase in casual and informal employment that is also a trend in industrialized countries. The lack of waged employment has forced many of the poorest, especially women and children, into exploitative forms of work including commercial sex and criminal activity including drug trafficking. The push towards flexible labour markets, while increasing some work opportunities has also created more pockets of poverty. We now have more working people living in poverty. Their incomes are below the poverty line. At the same time low levels of social security in many countries are generating new forms of social exclusion and fragmentation. Economic liberalization without effective social policies to mitigate the negative impacts of globalization is unsustainable in human and environmental terms.
The rate of privatization and selling off of state assets has resulted in massive retrenchments, increasing the number of unemployed. While the countries of the region have made a concerted effort to liberalize their economies as part of structural adjustment programs, we have not seen significant foreign direct investment that creates economic growth and employment to counter the impact of increasing unemployment in the state sector and amongst those people who have always been unemployed.
Few countries have promoted adequate reforms to mobilise resources for social development. The region reaffirms the need for full implementation of the 20/20 initiative on social development and urges industrialized countries to fulfil their commitments in this regard. Further, donor countries need to negotiate conditionalities for aid in accordance with a development agenda, timeframes and processes of recipient countries.
Since the Summit overall levels of ODA have declined and only 4 countries now meet the agreed target of 0.7 % of GNP. While it is said that a significant portion of ODA is directed toward Africa, it is the nature of this aid that has to also be reviewed. We would like to reinforce the regions view that donor aid should not result in additional transfers for donor countries. Such aid should benefit the technical and human capacity of the recipient.
Social integration is considered a central element in eradicating poverty and unemployment. Democratic forms of Government that promote the active citizenship of those who have been living on the sidewalks of society are key to poor people’s participation in processes that affect their lives. However, the narrative of social marginalisation of women and poor people from economic and political decision-making structures and processes continues to be a painful reality.
The SADC position affirms the principles of transparent accountable Government. We have to introduce mechanisms within our countries and the region to root out corrupt practices in all spheres of governance. Further, those trans-national agencies that promote corruption in our countries must be subject to severe sanctions.
While many countries recognize the role of civil society organizations to promote common interests in development and as a check on Governments and the private sector some still prevent and oppose civil society involvement in issues of social development and governance. Trans-national organizations and economic global governance should incorporate principles and practices of democracy, accountability, transparency and the ethics of human development into international rules and guidelines. A human rights framework that secures the rights of all people must support the promotion of enabling international, regional and national environments. The ratification and implementation of international human rights instruments has yet to be put into effect in some countries.
Given these challenges the region has set for itself policy objectives and targets on: poverty eradication, social integration, responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, promoting gender equality and equity, human development that ensures development in the interest of the most marginalised and creating productive and sustainable employment and livelihoods. Key to implementation of this program is effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms at national and region levels.
Contents | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Appendix