The future direction of social development in Seychelles is being discussed at a three-day conference beginning Wednesday November 26 at the ICCS.

Organised under the theme "Integrating People in Development for Economic and Social Dynamism," the workshop will be opened this  Tuesday afternoon by Minister for Social Affairs and Employment, Mr Dolor Ernesta.

The end-of-year conference, run by the ministry's social development division, has been envisaged to provide a draft framework setting out future actions and interventions required to ensure continued development.

A statement released by the division outlines the main objectives of the conference, being; to take stock of the preparation of the National Plan of Action on Social Development (NPASD); to develop the NPASD to ensure systematic evaluation of social development; and to achieve consensus on the implementation of the NPASD.

The official conference opening will take place at 2:30, following which the visiting guest speaker, Mr Anand Pankaj of the Society for Participatory Research in Asia, will deliver a presentation on Social Development Policy and Planning.

Over the following two days conference participants will attend working sessions at the Berjaya Mahé Beach Hotel, to address more specific issues.

Falling under the general heading of an integrated approach to development, the conference is intended to allow peoples' participation in the development process at all levels, while emphasising the complexity and totality of social development.

With this in mind the participants will address issues such as defining development in Seychelles, population change and its effects, partners in development and mechanisms for social development.

To ensure the conference achieves a consensus based approach participants will be drawn from government, the private sector, civil society, MNAs, political parties and members of the general public.

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