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Johannesburg Declaration in support of an African Regional Social Policy
24 November 2006
Ministers of Social Development of SADC
We, the Ministers of Social Development of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) of Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, as well as participants from other African countries and representatives from international organizations, gathered in Johannesburg on 23-24 November 2006 upon an invitation of the United Nations and the Government of South Africa, concerned at the slow progress in addressing Africa’s severe social challenges;
Noting
That rising poverty levels and social exclusion faced by most African countries require significant changes in the way we think of social policy. Comprehensive social policies are needed to reduce poverty, to ensure employment creation, social inclusion, political stability and the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms as well as to achieve Africa’s social and economic development objectives;
That local and national social policies receive all the attention and that regional and global policies continue to lag behind;
The need for a regional social policy which will equip the governments of the region to tackle regional social challenges;
The ongoing efforts by the African Union to finalize a continent-wide Social Policy Framework;
Acknowledging that
The international community has a critical role to play in contributing to the ongoing efforts in capacity building of regional and sub-regional institutions dealing with social policy;
Mobilization of resources for social policy at all levels is essential to facilitate the realization of the objectives of a Regional Social Policy.
Call
For a SADC Sub-regional Social Policy as a building block towards a Social Policy Framework for Africa.
Confirm that
The aim of our deliberations in Johannesburg is to develop and consider ways and means of future implementation of a Social Policy in the SADC sub-region;
Social policy, as a way of understanding and addressing social challenges, must be developed at local, national, regional and global levels;
The AU, NEPAD and SADC institutions dealing with social policy issues must be strengthened for the realization of the objectives of regional social policy; and
Endorse
The principles of the Johannesburg draft document Towards an African Regional Policy dated 24 November 2006 and commit ourselves to expedite the process of finalizing the draft document and facilitate its adoption as a SADC Sub-regional Social Policy; and
Invite
The international community to support all efforts and initiatives towards the development and implementation of a SADC Sub-regional Social Policy and similar initiatives of other African Sub-regions.
Adopted by acclamation in Johannesburg on 24 November 2006.
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