Prometheus 6   

THE SOUTHERN AFRICAN SOCIAL FORUM

Press Statement

Zambia has been host to the first ever Southern Africa Social Forum held at the Mulungushi Conference Center, from Sunday, 9 November, till today, 11 November.

We have been meeting as anti-globalisation activists, social movements, NGOs and unions opposed to neo-liberalism and corporate-led globalisation. We have drawn our inspiration from the growing international anti-globalisation movement as symbolized in the form of the World Social Forum, and from its African counterpart, the African Social Forum.

Our gathering included women and men, youth and the more elderly, from Angola, the DRC, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean delegation demonstrated its commitment by traveling in large numbers by road. The Tanzanian and Malawian delegates also traveled by road. There were also participants from countries beyond Southern Africa. Participants from Kenya and Britain delivered messages of solidarity.

We unanimously agreed that the globalisation process, dominated by the giant transnational corporations from the North, is impacting negatively on the people in our region. We rejected the role played by the World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organisation in imposing the agenda of the governments and corporations of the North. We noted the ways in which many of our governments have supported this agenda. We rejected Nepad as an expression of support by certain leaders of our continent for the world's elite at the expense of the majority in the Southern African region and the continent as a whole. We noted with serious concern the role of the South African government and the expansion of South African corporations throughout the region at the expense of local economies. We rejected this new form of colonialism and sub-imperialism.

Over the last three days, we have deliberated on many themes, including: gender, HIV/Aids, debt, trade, governance, education, culture, labour, malaria, media and ICTs, land and environment, agriculture and food security, youth and peace and security. Some of the areas of agreement arising out of these deliberations include:

~ We reject HIPC and the PRSPs as nothing other than the continuation of structural adjustment. The debt owed to the World Bank, IMF and other Northern creditors must be be unconditionally cancelled;[P6: Good luck on THAT one…]
~ Privatisation has put social services out of reach of the majority and must be vigorously opposed;
~ We must go beyond the demands for debt cancellation, an end to structural adjustment conditionalities and a reversal of privatization. Apartheid, debt, SAPs and privatisation have caused immense damage in the region, and those responsible, including those banks and companies that supported Apartheid, as well as the World Bank and IMF that have imposed their disastrous economic policies, must make reparations for the damage caused;
~ On HIV/Aids, the governments in the region must have comprehensive policies to address the issues of stigmatization, discrimination, prevention, treatment and care. In particular, we say: Treat the People Now!;
~ We must abolish inequality with regard to gender, and governments must introduce clear policies towards gender equality;
~ We insist on the right to free education;
~ We demand youth participation at all levels of society in the region;
~ We must put a stop to gun-running and the mercenary business;
~ There must be significant redistribution of land to the poor and, in particular, to women. The poor and women must be involved in decision-making in this regard; and
~ We must develop our sub-regional resource base to ensure the agricultural capacity to achieve food security, including developing our human resources, protecting our natural resources, developing infrastructure and ensuring access to finance.

During the forum, a delegation from the debt, trade and labour theme joined other civil society leaders in meeting the IMF mission in Zambia. They let the mission know that the IMF is not welcome in Zambia and Southern Africa. It was told in no uncertain terms: Pack Up and Go!

We are saying enough is enough! We have committed ourselves to build the social forum from the grassroots up. We will take on the task of building strong social movements to challenge the global system and the way it manifests in the region. This gathering of the social forum is an initial step in that process.

Another Africa is in the making!

This is our time!

* For more information, visit http://earth.prohosting.com/sasf2003/mission.htm