News / Local
Zela slate Africa Financial Flows Campaign Southern Africa meeting for Friday
24 Sep 2015 at 07:25hrs | Views
The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela) has announced it will host Africa Illicit Financial Flows (IFF) Campaign Southern Africa Launch at Holiday Inn in Bulawayo of Friday.
"ZELA, AFRODAD and partners noted with grave concern the substantive issues raised recently in the Progress Report of the High-Level Panel on IFF at the on-going 7th AU-ECA Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance presented by former South African President, Thabo Mbeki," said George Makore the organiser through an email. "The report estimates that African countries lose between US$50 billion and US$60 billion annually through illicit financial flows. This is a missed opportunity for development on the continent. African civil society organizations have not strategically coordinated themselves to give IFFs the attention it deserves."
He said noting the above, an interim working group (IWG) comprising of six organisations namely; AFRODAD, FEMNET, Global Alliance for Tax Justice, ITUC-Africa,TJN-A and Trust Africa launched an African Campaign on Illicit Financial Flows in Nairobi, Kenya in June this year.
"The overall goal of launching and implementing the Southern Africa Campaign on IFFs is to ensure that the region is represented in the overarching ‘Stop the Bleeding' Campaign launched in Nairobi," he said. " As such the Campaign will involve the major Pan African groups and civil society organizations in the region and elsewhere led by the IWG member in the region."
Makore said the organisers envision that this common platform will encourage all African CSOs currently working on different and various IFFs work/campaigns would continue to do so, but in a united and much more coordinated way - facilitated through this continent wide campaign.
"ZELA, AFRODAD and partners noted with grave concern the substantive issues raised recently in the Progress Report of the High-Level Panel on IFF at the on-going 7th AU-ECA Conference of Ministers of Economy and Finance presented by former South African President, Thabo Mbeki," said George Makore the organiser through an email. "The report estimates that African countries lose between US$50 billion and US$60 billion annually through illicit financial flows. This is a missed opportunity for development on the continent. African civil society organizations have not strategically coordinated themselves to give IFFs the attention it deserves."
"The overall goal of launching and implementing the Southern Africa Campaign on IFFs is to ensure that the region is represented in the overarching ‘Stop the Bleeding' Campaign launched in Nairobi," he said. " As such the Campaign will involve the major Pan African groups and civil society organizations in the region and elsewhere led by the IWG member in the region."
Makore said the organisers envision that this common platform will encourage all African CSOs currently working on different and various IFFs work/campaigns would continue to do so, but in a united and much more coordinated way - facilitated through this continent wide campaign.
Source - Byo24News
