Your Excellency, Minister of Social Development, Elderly and Solidarity, Mr Sekou Diakite
Senior Government Officials from South Africa and Mali
Esteemed guests
Ladies and gentlemen
Good afternoon. Bonjour!
It is my privilege and honour to be in your beautiful country, a country rich with historical resonance and the enchanting African music. I bring you warm greetings from the President and the people of the Republic of South Africa.
My delegation has informed me that they have been treated like royalty since arrival here early this week. Indeed we feel like we are at home. Thank you for your warm hospitality.
We meet today in the shadow of a global financial crisis more serious than we have seen for generations. The impact of the crisis can be seen all around us but the knock-on effect is now being felt by the world's poor.
The current global economic crisis has complicated governments' efforts to achieve a level of sustainable development that best promotes holistic growth for our peoples. Lower growth means less opportunities and resources for governments to undertake development initiatives, to meet domestic social development targets and to help the poorest get out of poverty.
It is at times like these that African countries, in the true spirit of African Renaissance need to work together to weather the economic global storm and minimise the impact on the poor. If we collectively fail, the crisis has potential to undermine the advancement of the African agenda and the achievements our respective countries have made in the last few years.
Honourable Minister,
The Joint Commission of Cooperation between our two countries clearly indicates that we are united in our vision of achieving the economic and social upliftment of our people. Most importantly, it reflects the African solidarity and our governments' collective commitment to ever-lasting peace and development in the African continent.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Although our countries are separated by thousands of kilometres, we have very much in common. I was reliably informed that here in Mali, like in South Africa, October has been declared Social Development Month. We also have much in common in terms of the history of our two countries. Years of colonialism and divisive economic policies have created conditions that perpetuated social and economic inequalities and poverty.
Our government inherited a welfare and economic system characterised by racial and geographical disparities and programmes that were ineffective in addressing poverty. When we came into power, our immediate task was to generate economic growth and facilitate the provision of appropriate developmental social services to all South Africans, especially those living in poverty, those who are vulnerable and those with special needs.
Over the last fifteen years, government has been implementing a myriad of poverty alleviation measures, with the social assistance programme being the biggest of them all, aimed at achieving the goal of a better life for all. To date this programme is one of the most comprehensive and sophisticated in the developing world. We have progressively expanded social grants to vulnerable groups, including people with disabilities.
The results of numerous studies on the social and economic impact of the social security system provide evidence that the household impacts of South Africa's social grants are developmental in nature. As government, we acknowledge that while the causes of systemic poverty need to be addressed by programmes that focus on giving people the means to graduate out of poverty, in the interim it is our Constitutional imperative to implement social protection measures to address chronic poverty.
We also recognise that empowering people and strengthening their own capacities is a main objective of development and its principal resource. With this goal in mind, we have begun implementing various initiatives. These include the Sustainable Livelihoods Cooperatives and the Home Community Based Care programmes.
The foundation of these initiatives is based upon an understanding that our people do not just want to be passive recipients of government grants and services but to be partners and architects of their own development. Given the multi-dimensional nature of poverty, our response has always been informed by a multi-pronged strategy and a coordinated approach.
In this regard, government has adopted a cluster approach. Each Cluster is comprised of those government departments whose mandates are complementary to the mission statement of government. The advantages of the cluster approach is that it ensures an integrated thematic response, drawing upon the comparative advantages of each department, joint programming, information sharing, knowledge sharing on technical and policy issues, joint formulation of sectoral strategies, promote implementation synergies by combining support and common services and leveraging resources through inter-sectoral collaborations.
Ladies and gentlemen,
You will agree with me that what the fight against poverty really needs is a collective action of all countries. The Joint Commission of Cooperation that we are about to sign here today is a step in the direction because it gives us a mandate to forge meaningful cooperation in the field of social development. Through this cooperation, the people of Mali and South Africa are coming together to respond to the challenges of our time and to create a more humane world where our people, both young and old can prosper and fulfil their potential.
Ladies and gentlemen,
This cooperation will see us working together in developing programmes towards poverty reduction, empowering people with disabilities, older persons and youth and strengthening families. We are also committed to sharing experiences in capacity building, particularly the training of social services professionals.
I was informed that since their arrival here, my colleagues and their counterparts have been hard at work, deepening and consolidating our ties further by developing an Implementation Plan for the Joint Cooperation. Let me assure you that our government will spare no effort towards the realisation of this cooperation agreement.
I wish to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to His Excellency, President Amadou Toumani Toure for his contribution in promoting friendly and cordial relations between our peoples. His contribution is deeply appreciated.
One again I wish to thank you for inviting and warmly receiving me and my delegation. I also wish to extend an invitation to you Honourable Minister, that should your find time in your busy schedule to visit our country.
I am confident that our meeting here today and this cooperation agreement that I will be signing now will serve to bring the peoples of our two countries together. I also hope that it will contribute to the advancement of socio-economic development of not only our countries, but the African continent as a whole.
Thank you. Merci!
Enquiries:
Zanele Mngadi
Cell: 082 330 1148
Issued by: Department of Social Development
21 October 2009
