Poverty alliance salutes Mbeki

from Afrique en ligne

Cape Town, South Africa (PANA) - Members of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) alliance across Africa have welcomed the prioritization of poverty reduction in South African President Thabo Mbeki's State of the Nation address on Friday.

However, they have also warned that they need to be followed through.

They said President Mbeki needed to be mindful of the gap between policy pronouncements and actions on the ground so this was not just more empty hype.

President Mbeki signed onto the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 and so far his obligations to the people of South Africa have not been fulfilled.

"Current levels of poverty and inequality in South Africa are unacceptable and we want to see a delivery plan to match the rhetoric," said Christophe Zoungrana, GCAP Africa Coordinator.

He said President Mbeki's call for a "national war room for a war against poverty", bringing together government departments, provincial and local administrations as well as NGOs and business, was a step in the right direction.

The GCAP Africa alliance has been lobbying for greater civil society participation at all levels of policymaking and for its members to be among those involved in improving accountability and creating good governance structures throughout Africa.

Similarly, President Mbeki's commitments to provide universal access to water, sanitation and electricity as well as push the Strategic Plan Against HIV and AIDS and reduce TB default rates, were welcomed by GCAP.