Tuesday, July 04, 2017

ANC FORGING FOREIGN POLICY IN INCREASINGLY MULTIPOLAR WORLD
3rd July 2017 by Staff Reporter

If the countries of the African continent are to realize the aspirations of Agenda 2063 of the African Union (AU), there must be a focus on unity between nations, with a strong focus on strengthening regional integration.

This was amongst the areas of focus for the commission on International Relations sitting at the party’s National Policy Conference (NPC) in Nasrec, Gauteng.

In presenting a summary of the discussion document, International Relations Subcommittee Chairperson Comrade Edna Molewa noted that South Africa’s foreign policy unapologetically reaffirmed that the country was an integral part of the African continent; and that the ANC wholly supported the African Agenda.

To that end, “A prosperous, stable, secure and peaceful Africa remains an important objective of the ANC’s International Relations policy,” said Molewa quoting the discussion document.

The ANC International Relations discussion document opens with an affirmation of the ANC’s commitment to ‘progressive internationalism’: ‘born out of the interaction with fellow liberation movements throughout the world and with international solidarity movements.’

Playing a role in the peaceful and inclusive resolution of Africa’s conflicts, and ‘increasing the people-to-people interaction (particularly amongst youth) between African countries (augmented by government-to-government and institutional relations)’ formed a key part of Building A Better Africa – which is the cornerstone of the IR policy discussion document.

Delegates representing the different provinces were given an opportunity to present their views to the committee. A robust exchange of views followed on matters contained in the discussion document, ranging from the Israel/Palestine conflict; to defining the role of South Africa in BRICS, to the strengthening of relations within the SADC region.

Delegates reaffirmed a number of resolutions taken by successive conferences of the ANC on international relations matters.

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