South Africa : Ebrahim departs for bilateral conference in Lisbon

Pretoria - Deputy Minister for International Relations Ebrahim Ebrahim is to depart for Portugal on Friday to participate in the fifth ministerial conference of the Community of Democracies (CD) to take place in Lisbon.

South Africa participates in the CD, which will be held this weekend, within the context of strengthening North-South dialogue and promoting democratic norms and practices worldwide.

"As an active member of this community, South Africa participated in the previous three ministerial conferences, held in Warsaw Seoul and Santiago," said the department's spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota.

She said issues for discussion at the conference will include the implication of the current financial and economic crisis in democratic governance.

The CD is composed of both a governmental component made up of government representatives, and a non-governmental component comprising civil society, who meets as a group at biennial ministerial conferences.

It was inaugurated at its first conference hosted by the government of Poland in June 2000 and its chairmanship rotates on a biennial basis. - BuaNews