Ross Sheil - Staff Reporter
South African High Commissioner, H.E. Thanduyise Henry Chiliza (left) in discussion with State Minister in the Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Ministry, Delano Franklyn (right) at a press conference to launch South Africa-African Union Caribbean Diaspora Conference. The Conference will be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston March 16-18. Looking on is Dennis Francis High Commissioner for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.- NORMAN GRINDLEY/Deputy Chief Photographer
DETAILS HAVE been announced for next week's Diaspora conference organised by South Africa and Jamaica as part of the tenth anniversary of the end of apartheid. It will be held at the Jamaica Conference Centre between March 16 to 18.
Speaking at the media launch for the South Africa-African Union-Caribbean Diaspora Conference, Delano Franklyn, minister of state for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said celebrations would have been incomplete without the involvement of the Caribbean, and especially Jamaica.
He said the Caribbean, especially Jamaica, had strongly supported African unity and the struggle against colonialism and apartheid.
Thanduyise Henry Chilizia, South African High Commis-sioner, said the conference would strengthen relations between the African Union and the diaspora. He said Africa and the diaspora shared the problem of poverty and undervelopment.
TO EXCHANGE IDEAS
Speaking to the The Gleaner he promised South Africa would enter into the conference on an equal footing with Jamaica and other Caribbean states to work towards common goals.
"We hope to exchange ideas on our experience and progress that we can share. We share many things with the Jamaican people but we all face an unfortunate situation where we are globally marginalised; we must work together to avoid reverting to conditions we experienced under colonialism," said Mr. Chilizia.
Mr. Franklyn anticipated three outcomes from the conference: concrete proposals on economic and trade links, commitment to mutual support in international relations, and the beginning of institutionalised South African-Caribbean cooperation in government and civil society.
