CSOs demand natural resource revenue accountability

via CSOs demand natural resource revenue accountability – NewsDay Zimbabwe July 9, 2014 by Paidamoyo Muzulu

THE Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (Zimcodd) says it will next month host several civic society groups from Southern African Development Community (Sadc) at a regional conference aimed at forcing African governments to account for revenue realised from exploitation of natural resources.

The conference, dubbed Sadc People’s Summit, will be held in Bulawayo under the theme “Reclaiming Sadc for People’s Development: Sadc Resources for Sadc People”.

Zimcodd executive director Patricia Kasiamhuru said the conference would run concurrently with the Sadc Annual Summit in Victoria Falls.

“The meeting seeks to influence the building of an alternative regional bloc through people-driven processes and also aims at carving out space in the Sadc policy-making processes for peoples’ participation,” Kasiamhuru said.

The civil society organisations taking part in the meeting fall under the umbrella of the Southern Africa People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN).

“SAPSN is modelled in a way that seeks to revive the solidarity of the people of Southern Africa in the fight for economic independence and for a better life,” she added.

The meeting comes as communities in the region still live in abject poverty yet foreign multinationals are making millions in profits from natural resources like minerals and oil.

SAPSN is made up of regional civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations, trade unions, faith-based organisations, economic justice networks and community-based organisations.

Participants for the regional meeting will come from South Africa, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

SAPSN was formed in 2000 with funding from among others Open Society Institute of Southern Africa (Osisa), MS Zimbabwe, DIAKONIA, Africa Groups of Sweden (AGS) and Action Aid Southern Africa.

These organisations, among other things, raise awareness in the region on issues relating to unfair economic relations existing between the North and South like trade injustices and the existence of external debts that lead to subjugation of the general citizenry in the region.