Botswana: Aids tops the agenda at Gaborone summit

Africa, the world's poorest continent, has to usher in good governance and tackle Aids on a war footing if it is to catch up with the rest of the world, Bostwana President Festus Mogae said on Sunday while inaugurating a global conference of civil society activists. "Ensuring good governance and democracy is widely accepted as one of the key prerequisites to sustainable development and security and, as such, constitutes a core part of Africa's promise," Mogae told a gathering of international delegates attending the five-day summit. The conference is organised by Civicus, a global alliance of groups dedicated to citizens' participation based in some 125 countries.