Sharma to SADC: Poverty is the persistent scandal of our times

Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma on 20 April 2008 in Mauritius addressed a special summit of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), called to seek ways of accelerating the fight against poverty, which he said was the greatest scandal of our times.

In a speech warmly received by SADC leaders, Mr Sharma spoke of the Commonwealth's role as a strategic partner that was prepared to assist the region in its agenda of improving the lives of ordinary people and meeting the key Millennium Development Goal of halving poverty by 2015.

"We offer access to a network of shared institutions, systems and a common language, in senses more than one, and we also have shared values and concerns. We can act at the international scale (as in trade, environment and encouraging global concord)," he said.

"Poverty is the persistent scandal of our times - nearly 750 million Commonwealth citizens live below the poverty line.

"We share many development concerns - the ravages of HIV/AIDS, the loss of critical human resources like teachers and health care workers, international market access for commodities, environmental degradation, and now the emerging crisis in food security.

"Development includes giving people a genuine voice and choice, making the poor and marginalised feel part of the mainstream, levelling imbalances, and addresses injustices. Our political, economic and social goal has to be coherent, comprehensive and inclusive development."

He also spoke strongly about the need to advance the interests of women and young people, whom he described as key pillars of development.

For full speech click here

Secretariat Links:

• Country profile: Mauritius