Cabinet approves for Seychelles to host two conferences next month |14 June 2019

Mrs Pillay

During their scheduled meeting chaired by Vice-President Vincent Meriton on Wednesday, the cabinet of ministers approved for Seychelles to host two conferences next month.

Seychelles, through the department of culture, will be the host nation to the Pan African Society for Musical Arts Education (PASMAE) from July 1-5.

The theme of the conference, ‘Sustainable Musical Arts Education for Africa’, expects to reflect on music as a powerful tool to inspire and motivate all people in Africa towards a better future.

The international music conference will gather music educators from Africa and abroad for plenary sessions on subjects such as technology and cultural policies in relations to musical arts, among others.

Keynote speakers will include the chief executive of the Creative Industries and National Events Agency (Cinea) Galen Bresson; Professor Akosua Addo from the University of Minnesota; Dr William Chapman Nyaho from the Pacific Lutheran University and Professor Lee Higgins from the International Centre of Community Music.

The conference is being financed through Cinea and other partners.

The second conference for July will be the Primary Health Care Conference wherein local stakeholders are expected to review the state of primary health care in Seychelles and explore ways where these services can be improved.

This would be held from July 11-13 at Avani Seychelles Barbarons Resort & Spa.

The deputy cabinet secretary for policy affairs Margaret Pillay noted that “Seychelles is strong in the domain of primary health care, but the moment has come for the Ministry of Health and partners to appraise the progress so far and discuss on what needs to be done to improve on them”.

The budgets for both conferences had already been forecasted in the 2019 budget.

In the same meeting, cabinet also approved the 2019-2023 strategic plan for the National Council for Persons with Disabilities which is aimed at uplifting the quality of life of persons living with disabilities based on the principles of equal opportunities.

Mrs Pillay remarked that some of points in the strategic plan include increasing the visibility of people living with disabilities so as to ensure their needs are included in policy-making, improved access to quality education and further studies, and revising the structures of training centres.

There are currently around 3000 people living with disabilities that are benefitting from the Agency for Social Protection (ASP).

Cabinet also approved the domestication of the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code into Seychelles law, as per the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea which Seychelles signed in 1998.

The domesticated code is expected to come into force in the form of a regulation under the Merchant Shipping Act which regulates activities on the ports and sea.

“When this code has been embedded in our law, it will make it easier for us to implement its provisions and ensure that the necessary measures for marine safety are in place on the port,” Mrs Pillay explained.

Amendments to the Nature Reserve and Conservancy Bill and the new policy to provide incentives to graduates from the Seychelles Institute of Agriculture and Horticulture (SIAH) were also approved in the Cabinet meeting. (See separate stories on page 5).