The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) will next week hold a Ministerial Partnership Dialogue in Harare to discuss key issues, including peace and security, sustainable development, climate change, trade and investment.
Zimbabwe’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister, Amon Murwira, who chairs the SADC Council of Ministers, will co-chair the meeting slated for March 15 with Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski, representing the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
The dialogue aims to strengthen SADC-EU relations and enhance cooperation in economic growth and policy reforms.
Discussions will cover global, continental and regional developments affecting peace, security and development.
The meeting will also assess progress on SADC-EU cooperation and the 2021-2027 Multiannual Indicative Programme for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Delegates are expected to celebrate the successful implementation of cooperation agreements supporting SADC regional programmes, including trade, security, institutional capacity building, natural resources management, and digital transformation.
SADC will be represented by its “Double Troika” member states – Zimbabwe as the current chair of the regional bloc, Angola as immediate past chair and Madagascar as incoming chair – as well as Tanzania, Zambia and Malawi, which are, respectively, current chairperson, outgoing chairperson and incoming chairperson of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
The EU delegation will include Sikorski, senior officials from the European External Action Service and European Commission, Polish government representatives and EU ambassadors to Botswana and Zimbabwe.
A senior officials’ dialogue will precede the ministerial meeting on March 14.
The SADC-EU Political Dialogue, launched in 1994, was reaffirmed in 2013 with a resolution to hold senior officials’ meetings annually and ministerial dialogues biennially, alternating between the EU and SADC regions.
JN/APA