The forum took place from the 13th to the 15 October 2011 in Lusaka, Zambia under the theme “Another Southern Africa is possible”. The forum was represented by various Southern African countries and these included Zimbabwe, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana, Swaziland, and Lesotho.
The forum began with a march to the venue with the theme “walking away from poverty”. Solidarity messages from different countries followed, with slogans from different countries.
There were various sessions that were hosted by various organisations highlighting the plight in Southern Africa. These included
• Global Financial Crisis on SADC
• Universal Education
• Debt & Trade-Regional Intergration
• Food Security and Land
• Gender and Women Rights
• Youth
• HIV/AIDS and Health
• Governance and Human Rights
• Social Services
• Indigenous peoples & Ethnic Minorities Rights
• Region and peacemaking
• Labour
• Media Arts and Culture
• Cross borders
• Environment and climate change
One of the sessions was the Roundtable discussion on Bilateral Trade Agreements and their impact on people’s livelihoods in Southern Africa organised by SEATINI. The presenters briefly introduced what these agreements were and a presentation was given on investments made between two entities. The discussion also highlighted the impact of liberalisation of sectors and gave the example of agriculture, as this has huge impacts on food security because the agriculture sector is left to operate freely. A study conducted by SEATINI, showed that small based units are producing the bulk of the maize consumed by families. As a recommendation, they found out that conservation agriculture was an alternative which can multiply yields. A presentation on MDGs was also linked with agriculture and the impact of trade agreements. The realisation of MDGs, which in themselves need to be reviewed to ensure that everyone is targeted, is unlikely due to the impact of agreements which lead to food insecurity, unemployment, lack of water, etc and women bear the greatest burden. A case study worth noting, highlighted by an activist from Lesotho is around the politics of water, citing the example of the Highlands water project in Lesotho. This is a project by South Africa and Lesotho which supplies water to SA from Lesotho and has left many families in Lesotho without water. As highlighted by one of the presenters, whilst the position of the developed countries in these agreements and investments is to create employment; technology upgrade and increased fiscal revenues through royalty and taxes and that of the developed countries is to seek protection from exploitation and seek the best possible environment, their study found that the agreements had conflicting objectives as evident on the ground and that the relaxations are ridiculous, if developing countries are to gain. More information on research on trade agreements and their impact can be found on the SEATINI website www.seatini.org
This is an example of some of the discussions that took place in different tents. On the final day, summaries of the discussions were presented in plenary and these will be made available on the forum communication channels.
A lesson to learn from the forum is that there are many struggles taking place within the region and coming together as in the forum helps to share struggles and experiences and alternatives towards improving the livelihoods of people on the region. The upcoming third People’s Health Assembly (PHA3) taking in Cape town South Africa, July 2012 is good opportunity to come together as health activists across the world to share experiences and actions. The themes discussed in the forum link closely with the upcoming assembly and some activists at the forum were very keen to participate in the assembly. Visit www.phmovement.org for more information on the PHA3.
The forum began with a march to the venue with the theme “walking away from poverty”. Solidarity messages from different countries followed, with slogans from different countries.
There were various sessions that were hosted by various organisations highlighting the plight in Southern Africa. These included
• Global Financial Crisis on SADC
• Universal Education
• Debt & Trade-Regional Intergration
• Food Security and Land
• Gender and Women Rights
• Youth
• HIV/AIDS and Health
• Governance and Human Rights
• Social Services
• Indigenous peoples & Ethnic Minorities Rights
• Region and peacemaking
• Labour
• Media Arts and Culture
• Cross borders
• Environment and climate change
One of the sessions was the Roundtable discussion on Bilateral Trade Agreements and their impact on people’s livelihoods in Southern Africa organised by SEATINI. The presenters briefly introduced what these agreements were and a presentation was given on investments made between two entities. The discussion also highlighted the impact of liberalisation of sectors and gave the example of agriculture, as this has huge impacts on food security because the agriculture sector is left to operate freely. A study conducted by SEATINI, showed that small based units are producing the bulk of the maize consumed by families. As a recommendation, they found out that conservation agriculture was an alternative which can multiply yields. A presentation on MDGs was also linked with agriculture and the impact of trade agreements. The realisation of MDGs, which in themselves need to be reviewed to ensure that everyone is targeted, is unlikely due to the impact of agreements which lead to food insecurity, unemployment, lack of water, etc and women bear the greatest burden. A case study worth noting, highlighted by an activist from Lesotho is around the politics of water, citing the example of the Highlands water project in Lesotho. This is a project by South Africa and Lesotho which supplies water to SA from Lesotho and has left many families in Lesotho without water. As highlighted by one of the presenters, whilst the position of the developed countries in these agreements and investments is to create employment; technology upgrade and increased fiscal revenues through royalty and taxes and that of the developed countries is to seek protection from exploitation and seek the best possible environment, their study found that the agreements had conflicting objectives as evident on the ground and that the relaxations are ridiculous, if developing countries are to gain. More information on research on trade agreements and their impact can be found on the SEATINI website www.seatini.org
This is an example of some of the discussions that took place in different tents. On the final day, summaries of the discussions were presented in plenary and these will be made available on the forum communication channels.
A lesson to learn from the forum is that there are many struggles taking place within the region and coming together as in the forum helps to share struggles and experiences and alternatives towards improving the livelihoods of people on the region. The upcoming third People’s Health Assembly (PHA3) taking in Cape town South Africa, July 2012 is good opportunity to come together as health activists across the world to share experiences and actions. The themes discussed in the forum link closely with the upcoming assembly and some activists at the forum were very keen to participate in the assembly. Visit www.phmovement.org for more information on the PHA3.
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