Johannesburg - African leaders meeting in Johannesburg for the African Union summit have recommitted themselves to support regional integration and women empowerment as the continent reinvent itself to achieve the goals set in the Agenda 2063, a blue print of the African Union Commission.
President Jacob Zuma joined several other leaders that included Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, who is the current chairperson of the AU, for a NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee (HSGOC) meeting, where leaders discussed how NEPAD can be used to address some of the pressing issues affecting the continent.
The HSGOC was established in 2010 at the AU summit, in Addis Ababa, in line with the integration of NEPAD into AU structures. The committee provides leadership to the process of NEPAD, sets policies, priorities and programmes of action.
NEPAD or the New Partnership for Africa’s Development, is a socio-economic programme of the AU whose objective is to eradicate poverty, promote sustainable growth and development and accelerate the empowerment of women on the continent.
The meeting was chaired by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, in his capacity as the chairperson of the HSGOC. It comes on the eve of the Heads of State Assembly which starts at the Sandton Convention Centre, on Sunday.
Among the issues on the agenda were the outcomes of the recent G7 summit held in Germany, the African Development Goals (AGDs) and progress report on NEPAD’s support for regional integration and women empowerment.
Earlier in the day, President Jacob Zuma told the meeting that poverty and unemployment are still challenges facing many African countries and implored fellow leaders to accelerate programmes to fight these problems.
President Zuma also said climate change was posing a threat to the development of the continent, a sentiment which is also shared by the AUC.
The continental body says urgent and concrete action is needed to address climate change which it says may threaten food security in the continent.
The meeting of the HSGOC is expected to finish late on Saturday. – SAnews.gov.za
