Southern African People's Solidarity Network's SADC Peoples' Summit 2008, Joburg, August 14-17, 2008

Announcing….

The SADC Peoples' Summit 2008

As the SADC Heads of State will be meeting in Johannesburg, South

Africa in 2008, the ordinary peoples of Southern Africa will also
converge in Johannesburg, South Africa from the 14th – 17th of August
2008 under the auspices of the Southern Africa Peoples' Solidarity
Network (SAPSN) to reclaim SADC for peoples' development and
solidarity.

The Peoples' Summit serves as a social movement planting and
strengthening forum in the SADC region. Alternative Information
Development Centre (AIDC), Economic Justice Network (EJN) and the
SAPSN Secretariat will co-host the Summit. The 2008 Summit will be
held under the theme ''Reclaiming SADC for People's Development in the
Southern Africa Through People to People Solidarity".

The following issues will be the main focus areas for the 2008 Summit:

* Food security in the SADC region
* Impact of trade liberalization/privatization/EPAs
* Unemployment and Peoples' Livelihoods
* Migration and xenophobia
* Deregulation of labour rights
* Human rights, Democracy and Elections in the Region
* HIV/AIDS/Health Issues
* EPAs and regionalism: Analysis of RISDPs and alternatives

This is the fourth time since 2000 when the SADC peoples through
social movements and civil society organisations have organised
themselves to claim a peoples' space within the SADC processes
parallel to the elitist annual SADC Heads of State Summit .

In 2000 SAPSN convened the Non-Governmental Conference parallel to the
Heads of State Summit in Windhoek, Namibia. This was followed by the
People's Summit held under the theme; ''Reclaiming SADC for People's
Development: Assessing the Impact of Neo-liberal Policies on the
Peoples' Livelihoods'' in Maseru, 2006. In 2007, a summit was also
held in Lusaka Zambia under the banner "Reclaiming SADC for Peoples'
Development and Solidarity: Let the People Speak!

For More Information Contact: info@aidc.org.za