Minister Meriton Should Tell Us Where Royston Is Before He Talks Of Moral Renaissance!!

Ministry of Social Affairs, Community Development & Sports

Press Release

The presentation of the National Plan of Action for Social Renaissance

31/10/2012

The Minister for Social Affairs, Community Development and Sports, Mr Vincent Meriton, launched the National Plan of Action for Social Renaissance yesterday in the National Assembly.

In his statement address, Minister Meriton thanked the Members of the National Assembly for their unfailing participation and responses to multiple invitations towards activities organized to highlight Social Renaissance.

The Social Renaissance Plan of Action is the social equivalent of the Macro-Economic Reform Programme. It constitutes Government social strategies in guaranteeing the social stability and cohesion for the smooth functioning of society. 

The successful implementation of the Plan will not only ensure the consolidation of the recent gains of the economic reform but will also contribute to the realization of Vision 2020, which is the country’s long-term development strategy.

Goals and vision of the plan

The 5 goals of the Plan are:

1. To work towards a society of empowered and happy individuals, families and communities.

2. To promote positive living values and the adoption of a healthy lifestyle.

3. To encourage higher levels of personal, professional, civic and corporate responsibility.

4. To safeguard our homes and communities.

5. To protect the health, safety and quality of life of all Seychellois.

The goals are supported by the Social Renaissance Programme themes of RESPONSIBILITY, RESPECT AND HARD WORK.

The main focus of the plan is to target the three main category group of people that Minister Meriton well highlighted in his address:

Firstly: The group that is considered as living comfortably, safe from social ills like drugs and alcohol. This is the NORMAL group and the plan works out action based activities to keep these individuals on that same path.

Secondly: The group that IS AT RISK of being victims of these social ills. Thus the Social Renaissance Plan of Action has incorporated means and preventive ways of reducing those at risk of falling into criminality roles, drug addictions and other anti-social behaviors.

The third and last group: are those that are ALREADY VICTIMS. The ones that has ‘fallen’ but since remain our brothers and sisters and should also and are inclusive in our plans for a better and safer Seychelles.

The successful implementation of the National Plan of Action on Social Renaissance demands a national effort. There is a role for every individual and organisation. Government through the National Social Renaissance Committee appointed by President James Michel and Chaired by Designated Minister Vincent Meriton who is overseeing the co-ordination, implementation and monitoring of all activities proposed in the Plan. Interventions are planned at national, community, organizational, institutional as well as at a personal level. One major network that needs to be established is a more effective partnership between national and community level to bring a more targeted approach to existing interventions and programmes. 

Editor’s Note:

In July 2011, President Michel formally launched the National Dialogue on Social Renaissance calling for the “participation of everyone to address the social ills which are threatening the fabric of our society.” The aim of the exercise was to engage the population in a process of radical qualitative transformation to address the social challenges affecting the country.

The specific objectives were:

• To engage everyone in a national dialogue on issues and strategies for social empowerment;

• To raise awareness of community members on the severity of social problems in Seychelles;

• To strengthen existing or established partnerships/networks amongst partners;

• To identify elements of this social revolution and collectively develop an action plan for implementation.

In all, a total of 54 sessions have been held with just under 5000 people taking part comprising representatives of 25 districts, all Secondary Schools and Post Secondary Institutions and selected Government Ministries as well as parastatal and private sector organizations. Once all the findings had been compiled and presented to the Cabinet of Ministers, a symposium was organised comprising all Ministries and relevant civil society organisations to incorporate valid proposals into current programmes through the finalization of a National Plan of Action on Social Renaissance.