Towards a "sustainable development"
network...
in southern Africa...
Despite a number of representatives from southern African NGOs attending
the World Summit on Sustainable Development last year, it was clear
that we made little impact. Our participation was passive, and the activities
were uncoordinated. Apart from a lack of capacity and resources, we
lacked any clear strategy for communication and coordination amongst
ourselves.
Having learned some hard lessons at the WSSD, a group of southern African
participants in the Rio+10 Network Project and invited delegates, held
a post-mortem workshop in Johannesburg in April 2003, co-organised by
EMG. You can download the full workshop report here (MS Word 71KB).
A key outcome of the workshop was the drafting of a concept paper for
further discussion. This paper proposes the creation of an open network-forum
for southern African civil society organisations which can facilitate
discussion and learning on a range of sustainable development issues,
as well as providing the space for strategising and mobilising support
for members' campaigns.
The meeting of the African Union in Maputo in July will be the next
key milestone for discussions on the idea. Discussions are open to all.
You can download a copy of the Concept Paper here (PDF format, 12KB). |
