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Compiled by the Government Communication and Information System Date: 15 May 2012 Title: SA ready to host African Diaspora Summit -------------------- Pretoria - With less than a week to the start of the Global African Diaspora Summit, the host country says preparations are at an advanced stage. Confirmations for attendance are pouring in, ranging from Heads of States to Africans in the diaspora across the Atlantic, says International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. "As the host government, we are satisfied with the level of preparation for the event, and we are looking forward to a successful summit." The summit, which will be held under the theme, "Towards the Realisation of a United and Prosperous Africa and its Diaspora", will take place in Sandton from 23 - 25 May. "The continent values the significant role the African diaspora played in the struggles against colonialism and apartheid. We continue to perceive the diaspora as vital in the pursuit for a peaceful and prosperous Africa," Nkoana-Mashabane said on Tuesday. She said South Africa's hosting of the summit was in line with the country's foreign policy objectives, which include the determination to consolidate the African Agenda and strengthen Pan-African solidarity. The summit will consider, among others, issues such as the possible inclusion of the diaspora as the sixth region of the African Union. Other objectives, according to the minister, will be the creation of sustainable partnerships between the African Diaspora and the African continent through a realisable Programme of Action; sustainable dialogue partnerships for a better Africa and its Diaspora; and the promotion of South-South cooperation in the betterment of the African continent and its diaspora. The summit is expected to endorse certain programmatic activities which will include AU Diaspora Volunteer Programme, which would associate the diaspora directly with the development efforts on the continent and give concrete meaning to concept of one African family. It will also focus on the development of a skills database of diaspora professionals, an African Diaspora Development Fund and Remittances and Financial instruments, as well as the adoption and promotion of the Development Market Place for an African Diaspora model as a framework to facilitate innovation and develop entrepreneurship to empower the youth of the continent and her diaspora, among others. - BuaNews |
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