Pretoria - South Africa is set to host an Anti-Drugs Dialogue conference in March 2016, as part of the fight against illicit drugs.
The high level conference, said Minister in the Presidency for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation Jeff Radebe, will be held under the auspices of the African Union, from 11 – 12 March 2016.
The conference will serve as a follow-up session of the Russia-Africa Anti-Drugs Dialogue, which aims to present a consolidated position in how world leaders intend to tackle the international drug problem.
This will be tabled at the UN General Assembly Special Session, in April 2016.
“The fight against illicit drugs is in line with the National Development Plan and the dialogue will provide a platform to further enhance the National Drug Master Plan (2013-2017),” said Minister Radebe when chairing the last post Cabinet briefing of the year.
Meanwhile, Cabinet has approved the Department of Human Settlements to co-host the ‘Leading Change in the City: From Slums to Inclusive, Safe, Resilient and Sustainable Human Settlements’ Conference with the UN Human Settlements Programme in March 2016.
Minister Radebe said the conference supports both the international development agenda and the domestic development agenda by strengthening support for Goal 11 of the Sustainable Development Goals: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
The conference forms part of the discussion on implementing the post-2015 UN Development Agenda and the “New Urban Agenda” to be adopted by the UN in 2016.
Cabinet has also approved that the Agricultural Research Council host the 3rd Global Conference on Agricultural Research for Development in April 2016.
The conference will identify international research and innovation priorities as well as needs in national innovation systems so as to achieve future development goals, in particular for family farmers and poor communities. – SAnews.gov.za
