SADC approves extending Cabo Delgado mission for 12 more months

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SADC approves extending Cabo Delgado mission for 12 more months

7:15 CAT | 20 Aug 2023

File photo: O País

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit has approved the extension of the mission in Cabo Delgado, Mozambique, for 12 months to achieve peace and the deployment of the mission in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

According to the final communiqué of the 43rd summit of SADC heads of state and government, the meeting also congratulated the member states, leadership and staff of the Southern African Development Community Military Mission (SAMIM) for their dedication and contribution to supporting the mission to achieve peace and security in Cabo Delgado province.

The meeting in Luanda also received an updated report on the security situation in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and endorsed the deployment of the SADC Mission in that country to restore peace and security in that territory.

The SADC summit also advocated the creation of the Regional Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre by next October and urged member states to “accelerate” national processes aimed at signing and ratifying the memorandum.

The aim is to create and operationalise the SADC Humanitarian and Emergency Operations Centre (SHOC) “by October 2023 at the latest”.

The meeting, which brought together heads of state and government from the 16 member states, approved and signed the SADC Declaration on Accelerated Action to End HIV/AIDS in the region by 2030.

At the meeting, Angola’s President João Lourenço was nominated to take over the rotating presidency of the regional bloc for the next 12 months, having received the organisation’s badges from the outgoing president, Félix Tshisekedi.

The president of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was elected as the next chairperson of SADC for the period 2024-2025, and the president of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, as chairperson of the region’s Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.

Security, industrialisation of the southern African region and economic integration were some of the topics under discussion at the summit, which was held under the slogan “Human and Financial Capital: The Main Factors for Sustainable Industrialisation in the SADC Region”.

According to the final communiqué, the summit received an update on the political and security situation in the kingdom of Lesotho and expressed its appreciation for the progress made and the commitment made by the government of Lesotho to finalise the reform process.

The Luanda summit received stocktaking reports on the degree of implementation of the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030, namely the economic situation of the region, regional economic performance, infrastructure development, industrialisation and others.

The member states also approved and signed a SADC Protocol on Employment and Labour, which, among other things, defines a strategic framework for regional cooperation on employment and labour-related issues.

SADC is an economic bloc made up of the Portuguese-speaking countries Angola and Mozambique, as well as South Africa, Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Eswatini, Seychelles, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Source: Lusa