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Johannesburg
15-16 November 2004

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Councils

JOHANNESBURG COUNCIL- The Progressive Agenda

15-16 November 2004

The Socialist International held its Council meeting on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 November in Johannesburg, South Africa, hosted by the African National Congress, ANC, under the main theme "The Progressive Agenda: The priorities for our movement today".

The Council was attended by leaders and delegates from member parties and organisations from around the world. (List of participants) The agenda of the discussions further to the main theme included three panel debates, the first under the title "The African Union: building common responses for the people of the region"; the second "Ten years of the Beijing Platform for Action: which way forward to continue empowering women?"; and the third "Sustainable development: Fulfilling the commitments of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg 2002".

This gathering of the Council, the highest decision-making body of the organisation in the inter-Congress period, in Johannesburg underlined the commitment of the International to the concerns of the African people and the International's strong presence in the continent, where it has convened on previous occasions in recent years in Maputo, Mozambique, in 2000 and in Casablanca, Morocco, in 2002.

On the eve of the Council, on Sunday 14 November, a working meeting of the leadership of the International, the Presidium, was held with the participation of the President of the Republic of South Africa and of the ANC, Thabo Mbeki. The Presidium addressed an agenda which included three themes: priorities for the International in Africa, an evaluation of the outcome of the US elections and current developments in the Middle East. On Monday 15 November, the plenary meeting of the Council was opened by SI President António Guterres in an address in which he defined some of the tasks and priorities for social democracy today, and by South African Vice-President and Deputy President of the ANC, Jacob Zuma. At the opening other contributions were heard from the President of the Republic of Mozambique and leader of the Frelimo party, Joaquim Chissano, Prime Minister of Mauritius and leader of the Mauritius Militant Movement, Paul Bérenger, among others, on the main theme. (Speakers in the first session) On Monday 15 in the afternoon and on Tuesday 16 morning, the panel discussions took place with a broad representation of participants. (Panelists) On each subject addressed by the panels, the Council agreed specific resolutions reflecting the outcome of the debates. The Council also addressed the urgent and critical developments in the Middle East and the serious situation in Côte d'Ivoire.

The SI Secretary General, Luis Ayala, gave a report on the activities of the International and presented an outline of the work of the organisation for 2005.

At the closure of the meeting, Kgalema Motlanthe, Secretary General of the African National Congress, ANC, gave some final remarks in which he said "Our task, as we adjourn here today, is to return to our towns and cities, to our countries, and to our regions - and pursue with ever greater vigour and confidence the programme of progressive action we have deliberated on".




AGENDA AND PROGRAMME

   

Monday, 15 November

Morning session

OPENING

Addresses by:

-Jacob Zuma, Vice-President of the Republic of South Africa and Deputy President of the
African National Congress

- António Guterres, President of the Socialist International


MAIN THEME

THE PROGRESSIVE AGENDA:
THE PRIORITIES FOR OUR MOVEMENT TODAY

Contributions on the main theme by:

Joaquim Chissano, President of Mozambique and leader of Frelimo

Paul Raymond Bérenger, Prime Minister of Mauritius and leader of the Mauritius Militant Movement

Herta Däubler-Gmelin, Member of the German Federal Parliament and Member of the SPD Executive Committee

Mohamed El-Yazghi, First Secretary of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces, USFP, Morocco

Elio Di Rupo, Leader of the PS, Belgium, and a Vice-President of the SI

Jeltje van Nieuwenhoven, Labour Party, PvdA, Netherlands, and a Vice-President of the SI

Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, President of the Party of European Socialists, PES

Fikile Mbalula, President of International Union of Socialist Youth, IUSY

Deniz Baykal, Leader of the Republican People’s Party, CHP, Turkey and a Vice-President of the SI

George Foulkes, British Labour Party and a Member of the SI Executive

End of morning session

Afternoon session

Discussion of the main theme (continued)

FIRST PANEL

The African Union: building common responses for the people of the region

Contributions and debate on the first panel:

Jessie Duarte, Member of the ANC National Executive, South Africa

Julião Mateus Paulo, Secretary General, MPLA Angola

Hugh Bayley, Member of Parliament, Labour Party, Great Britain

Jacques Baudin, Socialist Party of Senegal

Guy Labertit, Socialist Party, France

Jemal Abdelwaheb, Deputy Secretary General of the Constitutional Democratic Assembly, RCD, Tunisia

Chantal Kambiwa, Social Democratic Front, Cameroon and SIW Vice-President

Ahmed Ould Daddah, President of the Assembly of Democratic Forces, Mauritania

End of afternoon session

 

 
Tuesday, 16 November
Morning and final session

Session resumes

SECOND PANEL

Ten years of the Beijing Platform for Action: which way forward to continue empowering women?

Contributions and debate on the second panel:

Bathabile Dlamini, Secretary General of the ANC Women's League

Pia Locatelli, President of Socialist International Women

Margarita Zapata, Sandinista Liberation Front, FSLN, Nicaragua

Lissy Groner, Member of the European Parliament and an SIW Vice-President

Mario Nalpatian, ARF Armenian Socialist Party

Amelia Sumbana, Frelimo Party, Mozambique, and SIW Vice-President

THIRD PANEL

Sustainable development: Fulfilling the commitments of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg 2002

Contributions and debate on the third panel:

Mohammed Valli Moosa, former Minister of Environmental Affairs, ANC, South Africa

Christoph Zöpel, Chair of the SI Committee on the Economy, Social Cohesion and the Environment, SPD, Germany

Ousmane Tanor Dieng, Chair of the SI Africa Committee, Socialist Party, Senegal

Ouafa Hajji, Socialist Union of Popular Forces, USFP, Morocco /

Ibrahim Rachidi, USFP, Morocco

Maria Titizian, ARF Armenian Socialist Party

Nalin Pekgul, President of Swedish Social Democratic Party’s Women’s Organisation


Report of the Secretary General

Report of the Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee

Report of the Chair of the Ethics Committee

Date, venue and main theme of the next Council meeting

CLOSURE