Theme: Promoting the integration of Millennium Development Goals into National Poverty Strategy
Programme Director, Ms Mtwana
Deputy Chairperson of the NCOP, Ms Thandi Memela
Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane
Minister in the Presidency, Mr Collins Chabane
Panelists
Delegates
Ladies and gentlemen
It is a great honour to join you in this important conference, which serves as a platform for us to share ideas on how best to accelerate our efforts and strategies towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
This year marks a decade since world leaders converged in 2000 at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in New York to adopt the UN Millennium Declaration, thus committing their nations to a global partnership to reduce extreme poverty by 2015.
In South Africa, addressing poverty, underdevelopment and inequality is also about restoring the dignity of millions of people who have been oppressed and underprivileged for many decades.
This means our efforts have always been geared towards addressing the social and economic problems created by apartheid, into a new society based on unity, equality, non-racialism and non-sexism. I am stressing these as they were the values that informed the ANC and the Mass Democratic Movement’s struggle against Apartheid. Our commitment to these values have remained steadfast and we need to strengthen our partnerships with the motive forces in civil society that are active in promoting non-racism, non-sexism and a vision of a South Africa that is more equal and free of poverty.
Before and since the adoption of the UN declaration, we have traversed this journey as government working side-by-side with civil society organisations, business, labour and the international community in a quest to defeat the social and economic challenges that confront us.
Our relations and interactions have found expression in many joint programmes and strategies that have guided our coherent approach to issues of common interests, especially those that concern the socio-economic upliftment of our people. Today, the lessons, successes and challenges that emerge from processes of developing and implementing these strategies enjoin us to work twice as hard towards the remaining five years.
At this stage, we are certainly conscious of the areas that need to be strengthened for us to achieve the different MDGs. In this instance, the policy frameworks that have been put in place in various areas of government, some of which have already been pronounced as priority areas, have registered successes but continue to face challenges.
Accordingly, these successes and challenges have revealed strengths and gaps, while navigating us on how to fill those gaps. Let me hasten to say that South Africa follows many of the best practice programmes in line with what is outlined by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) as best practice in terms of meeting the MDGs.
Among other things, these programmes include improved access to social services, education and health care, as well as a strategy to invest in human capital for long-term growth and poverty reduction. The challenges that remain require us to look at the gaps that exist in our systems, as well as in the services we render and the implementation process.
For instance, let us look at MDG4 which seeks to reduce child mortality. There are many interlinked measures that contribute towards achieving this goal, including income policies such as the different social grants (the Child Support Grant or Foster Care Grant).
However, in a broader perspective we must look at how to address the question of unemployment so that care givers can get jobs and have sustainable income. If we talk of immunisation of children against measles as part of achieving the MDG4, we must ensure that there is human capital to roll-out that immunisation plan, an element that brings us to the issue of education.
Therefore, it is important that all these measures are integrated into a comprehensive strategy because they are interlinked.
In our efforts to integrate MDGs into the National Poverty Strategy, we are guided by the ruling party, the African National Congress, which proclaims that a national democratic state should “continually implement integrated anti-poverty programmes, ensuring that these programmes address not only social assistance, but also sustainable integration of all communities into economic activity.”
Following this, we have ensured that the government’s response to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger is comprehensive, combining cash transfers with social wage packages. This includes free primary health care for all, compulsory education for children aged between seven and thirteen as well as and human settlements for the poor.
Our endeavour to successfully implement this coherent programme towards meeting the MDGs must be accompanied by a value system that is based on respect for an honest day’s work. This system must include a commitment to deliver quality services to the people.
As an example, we must note that although we have increased the numbers of children attending primary school and facilitated access to health services to people that may not have had such access before, our challenge is to improve the quality of such services.
This requires a combination of policy improvement and commitment to better implementation of programmes emanating from them.
Ladies and gentlemen
The Medium Term Strategic Framework (MTSF, 2009 -2014) has clearly identified the development challenges facing our country. It therefore revealed the medium-term strategy that seeks to improve the living conditions of all South Africans.
Accordingly, this document guides government planning and resource allocation at all levels. I highlight this to underscore the fact that the ten priority areas outlined in the MTSF also speak to the attainment of the MDGs.
For instance, the MTSF Strategic Priority 1, talks about Speeding Up growth and Transforming the Economy to Create Decent Work and Sustainable Livelihoods. This priority area speaks to MDGs 1, 2, 3 and 8.
All our priority areas in the MTSF are linked to different MDGs. This tells us that the MDGs form part of important elements in our initiatives to achieve the strategic development priorities of government.
This is due to a coherent national approach that seeks to tackle underdevelopment in a comprehensive manner.
Already, we are working with civil society and business, which have made contributions to our national Anti-Poverty Strategy. We encourage our social partners to align their anti-poverty programmes to the national strategy. So that wee work together inspired by our common desire to free many South Africans from poverty and underdevelopment.
Thank you and I wish you a successful conference.
