SOUTH AFRICA
As South Africa will be the host country for the WSSD, its own agenda
is of particular interest. South Africa's Environmental Minister Valli
Moosa recently stressed that growing poverty and inequality are the greatest
threats to sustainable development.
"The single-most important threat to sustainable development
globally is poverty and the widening gap between the rich and the desperately
poor. This is not only a threat to poor nations but also to wealthy, nations
as the instability, conflict, disease and environmental degradation associated
with poverty threaten the overall socio-economic status of our planet.
South Africa would like to therefore submit for consideration 'the eradication
of poverty as the key to sustainable development' as the Summit theme
... If we are to give effect to a new vision of a sustainable global economy,
WSSD must adopt a concrete, pragmatic and accelerated Programme of Action
for the implementation of the targets endorsed by the leaders of the World's
nations in the Millennium Declaration." (Valli Moosa, Environmental
Minister South Africa)
As Valli Moosa puts it, world leaders will have to review terms of trade,
finance, investment and debt relief, in order to tackle poverty and inequality
seriously. The WSSD must not only deliver a new commitment to the implementation
of Agenda 21 and combating poverty and inequality, but also a programme
of action with clear commitments, targets, delivery mechanisms, resources
and monitoring. South Africa has pushed forward the development of a Panafrican
action plan, the "New Partnership
for Africa's Development" that is meant to serve as input to
the WSSD from the African continent.
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