Several NGOs from SADC regions fully participated in the conference which was held from 16th to 20th April in Mauritius. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) has been in existence since 1980, when it was formed as a loose alliance of nine majority-ruled States in Southern Africa known as the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC), with the main aim of coordinating development projects in order to lessen economic dependence on the then apartheid South Africa.

PREAMBLE

We, the Heads of State and/or Government or our duly authorised Representatives of:
The Republic of Angola
The Republic of Botswana
The Democratic Republic of Congo
The Kingdom of Lesotho
The Republic of Madagascar
The Republic of Malawi
The Republic of Mauritius
The Republic of Moçambique
The Republic of Namibia
The Republic of South Africa
The Kingdom of Swaziland
The United Republic of Tanzania
The Republic of Zambia
The Republic of Zimbabwe

In attendance: the President of the Federal Islamic Republic of Comoros, the Prime Minister of Norway, the Vice President of the Republic of Seychelles, the Representative of the President of the Federal Republic of Brazil, the President of the African Development Bank, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth and the European Commissioner for Development Aid.

RECALLING that the objectives of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are, among others, to:
(i) Promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development that will ensure poverty alleviation with the ultimate objective of its eradication;
(ii) Enhance the standard and quality of life of the people of SADC and support the socially disadvantaged through regional integration;
(iii) Mainstream gender in the process of community and nation building;

NOTING that despite enormous efforts that SADC Member States have undertaken to achieve sustainable economic and social development, on average over 40 percent of the SADC population continues to live in abject poverty;
RECOGNISING that in addition to diseases, underdevelopment, deficient economic structures, gender inequalities, inadequate capital and skills and marginalisation from the world economy, there are new developments that are further frustrating efforts to combat poverty in particular surging food and energy prices, diverting food into energy production as well as climatic upheavals;
REAFFIRMING our commitment to the achievement of key international development goals aimed at sustainable social and economic development including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs);
FURTHER reaffirming our commitment to the roadmap for the creation of a common market;
REAFFIRMING our commitment to the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development of 1997, the SADC Maseru Declaration of 2003 on HIV and AIDS, the 2004 Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in the SADC Region;
HEREBY
REITERATE our commitment to combating and eradicating poverty in all its manifestations and dimensions as a matter of utmost urgency, through regional cooperation and integration, sound political and economic governance, the pursuit of appropriate trade and growth policies and gainful participation in the world economy and in that regard recommit to mobilise the necessary resources;
ENCOURAGE all SADC Member States to fully   implement their strategies aimed at poverty eradication in pursuance of our commitment to the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) and the Strategic Indicative Plan of the Organ (SIPO) as the SADC long-term strategy for deepening regional integration to contribute to the acceleration of economic growth, poverty eradication and the achievement of a sustainable pattern of economic growth as well as meaningful participation in the world economy;

THEREFORE:

1.  DECLARE the following as priority areas requiring our urgent attention at the regional level in view of the new challenges:

(i) Achieving food security in a situation of growing global food shortages;
(ii) Addressing the adverse impact of climate change in the fight against poverty;
(iii) Increasing capacity in power generation and transmission as well as secure greater use of renewable and alternative sources of energy;
(iv) Achieving higher economic growth through accelerated regional integration, pro-poor trade liberalisation and economic development;
(v) Developing and sustaining human capabilities through increased access of the population to quality and appropriate education, training, welfare and social development, nutrition, health, and sporting services as well as information in all Member States; and
(vi) Accelerating development, rehabilitation and maintenance of Infrastructure for Regional Integration.

2. To address these priorities, we RESOLVE TO:

(i) achieve food security by setting up a Task Force of Ministers of Trade, Agriculture and Finance to encourage regional collaboration and by sustainably improving the production capacity and productivity, facilitating cross border and internal food flows based on improved infrastructure and distribution networks; 
(ii) mandate the Task Force to immediately focus on the current food crisis;
(iii) promote financial sector development including micro finance and develop small and medium enterprises with particular emphasis on gender;
(iv) promote relevant education and skills development at all levels in order to ensure higher general efficiency, productivity and boosting the required innovative processes by, amongst others, bridging the digital divide;
(v) ensure wide access to health services including primary health care and step up efforts to combat HIV and AIDS and other diseases;
(vi) achieve resilience against the impact of climate change by preparing and implementing national and regional adaptation and mitigation plans;
(vii) accelerate implementation of regional integration including intra-regional trade liberalisation, cross border investment and value addition by improving the business and investment climate;
(viii) enhance, expand and upgrade infrastructure with emphasis on labour intensive methods and Public Private Partnerships; and
(ix) strengthen our partnerships with the private sector and civil society at large to mobilise financial and technical resources to combat poverty at its roots.
 
3. We further RESOLVE TO:

(i) work towards the establishment of a Regional Poverty Observatory to monitor progress made in the implementation of actions in the main priority areas of poverty eradication; and
(ii) acquire and develop adequate capacity both at the SADC Secretariat and at Member States level to ensure effective implementation of poverty eradication programmes.
 
4. We also RESOLVE TO:

(i) continue negotiations for resources under “Aid for Trade”;
(ii) set up the required framework for the rapid operationalisation of the SADC Development Fund to implement regional projects linked mainly to promote trade and infrastructure development;
(iii) encourage partnerships with civil society organisations and community leaders in poverty reduction programmes; and
(iv) urge the international cooperating partners to assist and provide predictable, additional and dedicated resources and encourage Foreign Direct Investments in the SADC Region in order to achieve key international development goals including the MDGs by substantially increasing their financial and technical assistance, reducing unnecessary procedural impediments and supporting reform programmes at country and regional level as well as through effective implementation of the existing initiatives and commitments.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, WE, the Heads of State and/or Government,  and the duly authorized Representatives have signed this Declaration.
Done at Pailles, Republic of Mauritius, this 20th day of April 2008, in three (3) original texts in the English, French and Portuguese languages, all texts being equally authentic.

Source of information: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mauritius.

http://www.sadc.int/