Poverty Eradication towards Sustainable Development

The Southern African Development Community will hold its International Consultative Conference on Poverty and Development under the theme “Regional Economic Integration: A Strategy for Poverty Eradication towards Sustainable Development” between 18 - 20 April 2008 in Mauritius.

For more information on the conference, visit: http://www.sadc.int/conference/

1. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION

Poverty in Southern Africa remains as one of the greatest challenges the region is facing. The majority of the SADC population lives on less than US$1 per day and over 40 percent live in dire poverty. The 1995 World Summit for Social Development defined absolute poverty as a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information. It depends not only on income but also on access to social services.1 SADC countries continue to register poor socio economic conditions, rising inflations, lack of access to basic social services such as clean water, sanitation, health and lack of access to basic infrastructure. The region remains host to the highest number of people infected and affected by the HIV virus and most countries in the region seriously lag behind in their implementation schedules to achieve the MDG targets.

SADC countries have responded to this challenge and made poverty reduction the central objective of national and regional developmental policies. The SADC Treaty objective 1(a) states that SADC seeks to “achieve development and economic growth, alleviate poverty, enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of Southern Africa and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration” thus the SADC region has developed and is implementing the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP), a framework for SADC’s development which assigns top priority to poverty eradication, achieving high and sustainable economic growth and deepening economic integration.

The RISDP identifies poverty as “one of the major development challenges facing the SADC Region". In line with MDG 1, the RISDP target is to halve the proportion of the population that lives on less than US$ 1 per day between 1990 and 2015. The goal of reducing poverty in the SADC region has remained a high priority area in the SADC agenda. This is exemplified by the 2002 SADC Consultative Conference whose theme was “SADC Institutional Reform for Poverty Reduction through Regional integration”. The SADC Consultative Conference is a bi-annual platform for SADC and its International Cooperating Partners (ICPs) to discuss the implementation of the SADC agenda.

The RISDP identifies regional economic integration as a key strategy for the region to achieve economic growth and thus has sets out the regional targets and milestones for deepening economic integration to include the establishment of a SADC Free Trade Area (FTA) by 2008; the Customs Union (CU) by 2010; the Common Market by 2015; the Monetary Union by 2016; and a Regional Currency for the SADC Monetary Union by 2018.

However the SADC Summit recognizes that poverty is multi dimensional and thus in August 2006, the Summit at its Ordinary meeting held in Maseru, Lesotho decided to hold a SADC International Conference on Poverty and Development. This Conference was envisaged as a strategic dialogue by SADC Heads of States and Government and key stakeholders from the region and internationally that would give opportunity to reflect and adopt innovative approaches to the region’s poverty eradication strategies and an opportune platform to engage the international community on commitments made towards eradicating poverty in effort to meet the targets espoused in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

2. THE AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE CONFERENCE

The SADC International Consultative Conference on Poverty and Development will provide a platform for SADC, ICPs, civil society, the private sector and the international community to engage in policy dialogue, forge consensus and review progress of the SADC economic integration agenda with a view to emphasize on poverty eradication and sustainable development.

SADC countries have made poverty reduction the central objective of national development policies. At a national level, the Poverty Reduction Strategies serve as a basis for countries to set their own development agenda through a consultative and participatory process, to define targets and monitor progress using MDGs as benchmarks. Regional dimensions to poverty on the other hand have been defined through the RISDP and SIPO.

In this context, the objectives of the SADC International Consultative Conference on Poverty and Development are:

(i) To discuss the regional dimensions of poverty in the SADC region and their inter-linkages with national poverty reduction strategies and forge consensus on the key elements
(ii) To develop an Action Plan/Road Map on Poverty and Development, outlining a series of timed specific tasks and actions and monitoring and evaluation mechanism
(iii) To re-mobilize the international community in particular the developed countries to live up to their commitments in regard to increasing the levels of development aid.
(iv) To mobilise resources both at regional and international levels to meet economic and social adjustment costs and implement regional poverty-oriented programmes/projects; and
(v) To lay the foundations for a new global partnership for SADC that accelerates momentum for the region to achieve MDGs targets;

In summary, the conference is expected to link the poverty agenda to the regional integration mandate of SADC and expound on what is needed to facilitate the SADC regional economic agenda and achieve the goal to half poverty for the SADC region by 2015.

3. THE SCOPE OF THE CONFERENCE

The overall scope for the Conference is in the context of the SADC agenda as articulated in the 1992 SADC Treaty which asserts that regional integration will be pursued as the vehicle for accelerating economic growth, eradicating poverty and achieving a sustainable pattern of development. It is in seeking innovative approaches to eradicating poverty.

The Conference will

a) Reflect on the state of poverty in the region and current approaches to tackling it within the Member States
b) Interrogate relevant sectoral issues and factors that need to be addressed to enhance regional economic integration and reduce poverty for SADC citizens
c) Consider strategies and programmes that SADC can reinforce and/or adopt to strengthen and accelerate Member States’ national poverty reduction interventions so as to meet their MDG targets
d) Assess the challenges towards achievement of the MDGs with emphasis on poverty eradication in the SADC region with intention to finding innovative approaches to deal with the same.
e) Enhance ICP consultations on strategies and other common approaches that will enable them to improve efficiency and effectiveness in development assistance to SADC in the implementation of the RISDP and SIPO.

4. EXPECTED OUTPUTS AND OUTCOMES

It is expected that the Conference will reaffirm SADC’s regional integration agenda as the viable strategy for fostering economic growth, accelerating poverty eradication and the achievement of a sustainable development pattern. The conference will also articulate specific activities that spell out how such a strategy will contribute to poverty eradication.

Expected Outputs

It is anticipated that the Conference will propose and adopt the following;

a) Regional Poverty Reduction Framework (RPRF) with SMART2 targets and a clear Monitoring and Evaluation plan. This framework shall focus on specific programmes and actions that operationalise the RPRF and strengthen Member States’ poverty reduction programmes to meet their set MDG targets

b) Establishment of a SADC Poverty Observatory

c) Receive concrete pledges of technical and financial support from the international community, development partners and private sector in line with MDG 8, the Gleneagles G8 Summit of 2005 and other such commitments.

d) A communique or declaration from the conference

Outcomes

The conference is expected to have a long term impact on the approaches and policy practices of all stakeholders including

* Increased commitment for achieving the MDG targets by focusing on the necessary reforms and increasing/refocusing of resources to align to identified targets.
* Augmented interest in implementing the RISDP and SIPO as important avenues for reducing and eliminating poverty both at national and regional levels;
* Enhanced consensus on the causes of underdevelopment and poverty in the region as well as on the strategies for overcoming them by demonstrating the benefits of freer trade and investment in generating vertical and horizontal integration across national frontiers;
* Highlight the role of SADC as one of the building blocks of the African Union in facilitating the attainment of the continental integration agenda as well as mandates/goals such as the MDGs;
* Build confidence on the multi stakeholder approach in regional policy development and mobilize consensus among the key stakeholders and lay the foundations for a new global partnership for SADC to achieve the MDG targets.
* Increased awareness by the international community of the efforts made in the SADC region for eradicating poverty, achieving inclusive and sustainable economic patterns of development and integrating the global economy.
* Commitment from ICPs for additional resources for poverty eradication based on adoption and implementation of bold action to achieve regional economic integration.
* Agreement on specific role of each of the key stakeholders in the implementation of the Conference recommendations

5. THE PROCESS LEADING TO THE CONFERENCE:

To ensure a successful Conference, it is envisaged that a participatory process will be pursued drawing together, besides the SADC Institutions and Member States, the private sector, civil society, and the international cooperating partners. In this context a process that includes holding a regional technical workshop on poverty reduction strategies. The workshop will focus on assessing poverty in the SADC region including sharing various country strategies and interventions, identifying and prioritising regional issues and their inter-linkages with national issues and strategies. Input from this conference will inform the development of the RPRS and its implementation framework. Research will be commissioned in line with key regional issues identified through the operationalisation of the RISDP in relation to poverty eradication and the identified priorities. National Stakeholders Consultations with Member States, Civil Society, the Private Sector at national level have to be carried out on the content of the proposed Regional Poverty Reduction Framework and other themes to be discussed at the conference. Some policy meetings including a Senior Officials Roundtable Meeting and the Council of Ministers will be held to consider the RPRF, the SADC Poverty Observatory and other thematic papers/issues emanating from the research before the Conference.

6. PARTICIPATION AND CONSTITUENCIES TO BE INVITED

From the SADC Region
Participation in the conference will be at the level of SADC Heads of State and Government, key ministers and government officials, private sector representatives and Civil Society;

From the International Community
Invited Heads of States and Government from other regions of Africa, Asia, South America and Europe developed countries and from emerging developing powers and as many ICPs and development partners as possible. Local and international media shall also be in attendance.

7. DATES & VENUE OF THE CONFERENCE

The Conference will be held from the 18th - 20th of April 2008 at Swami Vivekanada, Pailles, Mauritius.

The 18th - 19th is attended by Ministers, ICPs, SADC institutions, civil society and private sector actors and other development partners from the international community.

On the 20th of April 2008 the Heads of States and Governments shall also be in attendance.

8. THE STRUCTURE AND FORMAT OF THE CONFERENCE

The Conference will be in two stages. The first two days will be held in the format of a combination of plenary and interactive working group sessions. This will be a technical level meeting. The third day sessions will be a combination of plenary and panels.

8.1 Sessions
The Conference shall be a mixture of plenary sessions and interactive working group sessions particularly on the 18th and 19th of April 2008. The Interactive Working Group Sessions will run parallel to each other and will focus on key issues identified for discussion according to their theme highlighting the implementation of the SADC priority programmes towards poverty reduction and development.

Panels comprising of SADC Secretariat and/or Member States representatives, ICPs and experts from civil society and/or the private sector will make presentations outlining the priority intervention areas focusing on the overall goals, focal areas, strategies and targets. These presentations will be followed by interactive discussions which will inform the outputs to be adopted at the end of the conference.

The interactive working groups will be chaired by a representative of SADC at Ministerial level while a representative of the Lead ICP for the particular thematic group will act as rapporteur.

The interactive working group sessions shall be based on the following sub - themes:
i. Trade including informal cross border trade within the context of the SADC Free Trade Area
ii. Infrastructure support for regional integration, poverty eradication and development;
iii. Education required for Skills, Technologies and Innovation needed for economic growth and poverty eradication
iv. Strengthening the role of Agriculture in Poverty Eradication
v. Gender and Development for poverty eradication;
vi. The economic cost of HIV and AIDS, Malaria and TB in the SADC region

8.2 Panels
On the 20th of April 2008, the Summit level of the Conference, several panels will be held with SADC Heads of State and Governments introducing the theme/subject. A panel consisting of several Heads of States both from the region and those invited to participate from other regions and VIP guests shall discuss a subject matter also allowing the audience/ participants to make input into the discussions including asking questions to the panelists.

Eminent scholars and experts from the region will be asked to lead these discussions in the panel providing a framework and also incorporating issues emanating from the discussions held during the first 2 days of the conference.

Secretariat intends to partner with local, regional and international television networks so at to broadcast these panel discussions at Member States countries, across the continent and internationally.

The themes of the panel discussions shall be on the following:
1. The SADC Regional Economic Integration |Paving a Road to Economic Growth and Poverty Eradication
2. Tackling the Skills, Innovation and Technological Gaps required for Economic Growth and Poverty Reduction in the SADC Region
3. Escalating Efforts towards Poverty Eradication the SADC Regional Poverty Reduction Framework
4. SADC Region Resource Gaps for Attaining MDG Targets

9. DOCUMENTATION

Background documents will be made available to all participants on each of the key thematic issues to be discussed at the Conference. Documents will be available in all the SADC working languages English, French and Portuguese.

Background Documents
a. Each of the 14 SADC Member States’ poverty profiles
b. The SADC region poverty profile:
c. An overview of the SADC Region Poverty Observatory
d. The Regional Poverty Reduction framework

Thematic Documents
e. Trade (including Informal Cross Border Trade) within the context of the SADC Free Trade Area
f. The role of SMEs and the impact of the Micro-finance sector in increasing economic growth and poverty reduction
g. Infrastructure support for regional integration, poverty eradication and development
h. Strengthening the role of Agriculture in Poverty Eradication
i. Impact of Climatic Change on the poverty situation in the SADC region
j. Gender and Development for Poverty Eradication [
k. Examining the role of Education in improving the skills, innovation, technologies required by the region to meet MDGs
l. The economic cost of HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria in the SADC region

For each thematic Document; it is expected that
i. The comprehensive paper will be posted in its entirety in the Conference website at leat a month before the Conference.
ii. an executive summary will be reproduced as handouts for delegates at the Conference
iii. a discussion paper detailing the key discussion questions, issues for guiding the plenary sections of the thematic working group sessions. This will be distributed to guide plenary discussions at the Conference.

1 World Summit for Social Development, Programme of Action, Chapter II “Eradication of Poverty”, para. 19. Copenhagen, March 1995

2 SMART Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound

SADC Secretariat
October 2007

<< Back to main