SALO WORKSHOP – Shaping the Post-2015 Development Agenda
Identifying opportunities for a renewed focus on peace and security as preconditions for sustainable development in Africa
Thursday 27th February 2014, Pretoria
The 22nd Ordinary Session of the African Union Summit adopted the African Common Position on the Post-2015 Development Agenda thus building momentum behind the assertion that Africa should lead the international debate on the Post-2015 framework.
The UN High Level Panel of Eminent Persons, established by the UN Secretary General to make recommendations on the Agenda, is co-chaired by Liberian President H.E. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. In addition, the involvement of H.E. President Jacob Zuma and Benin President H.E. Thomas Yayi Boni in the Special Event held on the side of the UN General Assembly in September 2013, tasked with assessing progress towards the achievement of the MDGs, opens up further opportunities for African influence on the global agenda.
SALO hosted a policy dialogue discussion focused on the challenges of the MDGs, the current status of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, and the opportunities for building momentum behind an African agenda to shape and influence the Post-2015 framework. As an influential member state of the African Union and the United Nations, South Africa has a key role to play within this process.
Speakers from the South African Government and the international community provided a foundation for the discussion that followed.
South Africa will be an influential actor in defining the shape and content of the post-2015 process – including if and how to include peace, security and stability concerns in the new framework. This policy dialogue event, hosted by SALO in partnership with Saferworld, forms part of a collective effort to build momentum in support of the African Common Position. In order to inform and catalyse debate about these issues within the South African policy community, SALO and Saferworld collaborated with three other leading South African organisations, namely ACCORD, IGD, and ISS, and compiled a series of short papers on how these issues affect South Africa and the wider continent.” Saferworld Briefing paper, Conflict and the post-2015 development agenda – perspectives from South Africa, 2014. (To access the full paper in PDF click here: conflict-and-the-post-2015-development-agenda—south-africa)
To access the “COMMON AFRICAN POSITION (CAP) ON THE POST- 2015 DEVELOPMENT AGENDA” click on the links below:
- African Common Position – FINAL (ENG) 10 March 2014
- African Common Position – FINAL (FRENCH) 10 March 2014
- English Communicae
- French Communicae
Speakers at the SALO workshop:
Ambassador Nozipho Mxakato-Diseko – Deputy Director General, Multilateral, Department of International Relations and Cooperation
Dr. Showers Mawowa – Research and Development Manager, SALO
Ambassador Lindiwe Zulu – International Relations Advisor in the Office of the President
Ranji Reddy – Chief Director of Women Empowerment and Gender Equality at the Presidency
Dr. Zacarias Agostinho – United Nations Development Programme, Resident Representative
Robert Parker – Director of Policy and Communications, Saferworld
Professor Wendy Ngoma – Former Director, Wits Business School
Michelle Ndiaye Ntab – Director of the Africa Peace and Security Programme, AU Institute for Peace and Security Studies
Richard Smith – SALO Board