SOUTH AFRICAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT TAKES ACTION IN SUPPORT OF MDGs

From 12 - 18 October 2009, South Africa will be the site of two major events – the Local Government Week (LGW) and the Stand Up and Take Action (SUTA) Campaign – both in support of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). 

 The Local Government Week, scheduled from 12 - 16 October 2009, is organized by the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) in collaboration with the United Cities and Local Governments of Africa (UCLGA) and the Southern Africa Youth Movement (SAYM). The main objective of the LGW is to sensitize South African local governments and communities around the MDGs – what they are, where does the country stand and what needs to be done to ensure that the country meets these goals. To this end, a series of engagements with the media in the form of radio and television interviews are scheduled throughout that week. The organizers are targeting public, private and community media stations for that purpose.

 Under the theme: ‘Kick Out Poverty!’, the Stand Up and Take Action Campaign 2009, organized by the SAYM in collaboration with UCLGA and SALGA, will be held in Ivory Park, Tembisa, on 17 October. The event will feature a poverty hearing, signing of pledge forms, musical and cultural performance and a running competition, among other things.    

 SUTA is one of the flagship activities of the United Nations Millennium Campaign (UNMC) held in many countries around the world annually over three days, one of which usually coincides with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. It is a worldwide call to all sectors of society to get involved, mobilise, and show commitment and support for ending poverty and inequality and to achieving and exceeding the MDGs. To this end, various events are organised where people literally Stand Up and Take a variety of Actions to demand their governments to deliver on their commitment to end poverty. 

 The UNMC was established by the Secretary General of the United Nations in 2002 to inform, inspire and encourage people’s involvement and action for the realization of the MDGs. The UNMC works with a large number of regional, national and local partners including schools, universities, local community groups, women’s groups, faith-based organisations, local authorities, trade unions corporations and many more.  One such partner in South Africa is the Southern Africa Youth Movement (SAYM) – a youth-led non-partisan civil society organization representing the interests of the youth in Southern Africa, which is one of the lead organizations for the MDGs Campaign in the country.

UCLGA members and partners are urged to massively and actively participate in Stand Up and Take Action events taking place in their respective locations from 16 – 18 this month.

A call is hereby made to African local governments and national associations thereof that are involved in hosting Stand Up and Take Action events to kindly send their stories and pictures to the UCLGA MDGs Coordination Desk at: skaninda@uclgafrica.org  Enquiries may also be directed to the same address.