The Council of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) will meet virtually on 13 August, 2020 in preparation for the 40th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government which will be held on 17th August, 2020.
During the meeting, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of the Republic of Mozambique, Hon. Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlhovo will take over the Chairpersonship of the SADC Council of Ministers from the Outgoing Chairperson, Hon. Prof. Palamagamba John Kabudi, Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation of the United Republic of Tanzania.
The Ministers will review implementation of the 39th SADC Summit “A Conducive Environment for Inclusive and Sustainable Industrial Development, Increased Intra-Regional Trade and Job Creation” and recommend for Summit approval the theme of the 40th Summit of Heads of State and Government, “40 Years Building Peace and Security, and Promoting Development and Resilience in the Face of Global Challenges”. The 40th SADC Summit Theme takes forward the implementation of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap by recognising the primacy of peace security and governance as a foundation which ensures the preconditions needed to achieve the other priorities of SADC regional integration.
As part of the regional response to COVID-19, the Ministers will discuss the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and its implications on the SADC region. The Ministers will also consider the draft SADC Vision 2050 and the revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030 and recommend the two strategic documents for approval by the 40th SADC Summit.
According to Article 11 of the SADC Treaty, the Council of Ministers is responsible for, among others, overseeing the functioning and development of SADC, approving policies, strategies and programmes of SADC as well as advising the Summit of Heads of State and Government on matters of overall policy. The Council consists of Ministers from each of the 16 Member States; usually from the Ministries responsible for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Economic Planning or Finance.
Follow the proceedings of the Opening and Closing Ceremony of the 40th SADC Summit which will be broadcast live by Televisão de Moçambique (TVM), Channel 701 on DSTV from 10.am to 11.10am CAT and from 12.30 to 13.30pm respectively on 17th August, 2020.
The ceremony will also be streamed live on the TVM Facebook https://www.facebook.com/mocambique.tvm and YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfRoEW08udEmsPSIt_YDK_w
For media enquiries about the 40th SADC Summit contact,Ms. Barbara Lopi, Head of Communication and Public Relations at the SADC Secretariat; email: blopi@sadc.int
For more information, visit the SADC website: https://www.sadc.int
