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afrol News, 2 October - Angola's President, José Eduardo dos Santos, wants the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to focus more on gender development as his country takes over the SADC Presidency. Discrimination was still "notorious", he said. Addressing the opening ceremony of SADC Summit of Heads of State and of government, Eduardo dos Santos today said that the region's women are only above men in terms of life expectancy but in other economic and social indicators their discrimination is notorious, namely in job opportunities, wages and literacy. Special attention must be paid to women within the framework of human development in Southern Africa, given that its level is also rated through gender development, the Angolan President stressed, according to government sources. Dos Santos told SADC delegates: "Literacy, which is the main reason for the lowest value of the rate, has to deserve our special attention because it is proved that increase of women's literacy contributes directly for reduction of infant mortality and decrease of fertility rates." The President added that "we can not forget that one of the objectives of human development is to increase range of options for the citizens, enabling them to make conscious and free choices regarding their own and their country’s destiny." Thus liberty, rather than an ideal, was a vital component of human development. Democracy can and must propitiate physical integrity of the individual, law empire, freedom of speech, political participation and equality of opportunities. To him, civil society had to organise itself better and better to collaborate actively with governments in quest of solutions to existing problems. In this context, the President said that there are still some people who criticize and contest public powers. "This is also necessary when there are no excesses, but the most important is collaboration". - This collaboration can be decisive not only in social actions, but also in the field of justice application and in combat against organised and bordering crime that has been rising in the region, concluded José Eduardo dos Santos. One of the main themes at the ceremony was the socio-economic development of SADC member's states. SADC countries include Angola, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Zambia, Congo Kinshasa (DRC), Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Malawi, Tanzania, Botswana and Swaziland. Sources: Based on Angolan govt (Angop via Emb. in Washington) and afrol archives
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