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African Ministers meet on human
development
Accra, April 8, Ghanadot/GNA - African Ministers of
Foreign Affairs and Ministers in-charge of Human Development
have met in Rabat for the First African Conference on Human
Development to among other things fight poverty, promote
gender equality and good governance.
A statement issued in Accra on Sunday said the two-day
Conference was organized in partnership with the United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
About 46 African Foreign Ministers and Ministers of Public
Sector Reform attended. Ghana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Nana Addo-Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Minister of Public Sector
Reform, Dr Paa Kwasi Ndoum, attended the conference. The
Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs was also
represented at the Conference.
Nana Akufo-Addo told the session that the three themes of
the conference - the fight against poverty; gender equality
and good governance - lay at the core of the social
mobilization which had to be undertaken if the Continent
were to succeed in eradicating mass poverty and achieving
the sustainable growth of African economies.
Stressing on development in Ghana, the Foreign Minister told
his colleagues that the “Government has made human resource
development a central feature of its strategy for national
development, since Government has absorbed the great lesson
of contemporary economic history, which is that, the single
most important element to the attainment of economic success
is the educational quality of a nation’s workforce”.
Another aspect of human resource development to which the
Government has paid particular attention was the development
of a public service that could manage the nation’s public
affairs with efficiency and diligence.
A message from Mohammed VI King of Morocco read by the
Moroccan Foreign Minister, Mohammed Benaissa called on
African States to rely on themselves and to use all means
available to ensure optimal utilization of the Continent’s
energies.
“We must, likewise, adopt efficient national policies
targeting comprehensive and integrated development. The
achievement of such a goal requires an environment of
enhanced stability; peace and security as well as further
democracy; protection of human rights; good governance and
respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of
States”; he said.
Dr Ndoum noted that the conference was an ideal platform to
promote the values of solidarity and unity among respective
countries and to work closely with a view to ensuring the
speedy realization of the Millennium Development Goals.
In a declaration adopted at the end of the Conference, the
Ministers said they were convinced about the role of
regional groupings and institutions in the realization of
the goals of regional integration and the optimum
exploitation of resources in their respective areas.
The Ministers encouraged the creation of an African network
of experts in human development and the establishment of
national focal point in charge of coordinating the national
networks of experts.
Gabon would host the Second African Conference on Human
Development in 2009.
GNA
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