Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa on Thursday ticked the fight against poverty as one of the priorities for southern African countries.
"It is now very clear that the greatest value addition that this generation must contribute to our development process is the fight against poverty," said Mwanawasa, who is the new chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
At the 27th SADC summit held in the Zambian capital of Lusaka, Mwanawasa described poverty as "a scourge" disgracing the SADC region and said the thorny issue of poverty elimination still tops its agenda.
About more than 50 percent of the people in the SADC region still live below the poverty line although statistics show shining performance of the region's economies.
Mwanawasa called on all SADC member states for cooperation in the fight against poverty.
"At individual national levels, we all have different strategies for fighting poverty," said the new SADC chairman, " however,there are certain areas where we must have cooperation in order for this fight to move forward."
Mwanawasa said that one of the major areas for cooperation in the region is infrastructure development, the highlight of this year's political show in southern Africa.
"Landlocked Zambia is excited to note that the heads of state during this summit will deliberate on 'scaling up the implementation of regional infrastructure'," he said.
The southern African region is now undertaking a new wave of infrastructure construction, including the Maputo corridor, the Lesotho highlands water project and the road network upgrade in Zambia.
"All SADC member states should intensify the implementation of the regional indicative strategic development plan," Mwanawasa said. "We must simultaneously double our efforts to mobilize resources and develop capacity to utilize them in the most effective manner."
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article