According to a press release to which ANGOP had access on Thursday, the country was applauded during the ceremony to hand over the SADC presidency from the Angolan representative, Francisco da Cruz, to his Zimbabwean counterpart, Taonga Mushayavanhu.
The diplomats praised the work carried out as part of Angola’s presidency, highlighting the commitment and dynamism undertaken by the head of this diplomatic mission.
Taking stock of the activities carried out during the rotating presidency, Francisco da Cruz considered the highlight to be the intervention by the Angolan head of state, João Lourenço, at the Summit on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in his capacity as President-in-Office of SADC, on the sidelines of the High-Level Week of the 78th Session of the UN General Assembly.
The Angolan diplomat also recalled the fact that Angola had facilitated, on behalf of SADC, the Women, Children and HIV/AIDS Resolution, coordinated by the Minister for Social Action, the Family and the Promotion of Women
, Ana Paula do Sacramento, who spoke on behalf of the Group at the Session on the Status of Women.
He said that at various meetings, the Group had discussed issues related to peace and security in the SADC region, such as the situation in the east of the DRC, which remains a cause for concern due to its potential to evolve into a regional conflict that could affect the entire Great Lakes Region.
He also mentioned two meetings held with the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix, where they discussed the deployment of the SADC mission in the DRC (SAMIDRC) and the possible support of the United Nations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUSCO) to this regional force.
The Angolan diplomat added that at these meetings, the participants recognised the efforts made by President João Lourenço, as AU Champion for Peace and Reconciliation in Africa and President of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), to achieve peace and security in the regio
n, especially in the east of the DRC, through the Luanda and Nairobi processes.
Francisco da Cruz also mentioned the meeting with the executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Cindy McCain, to discuss the critical humanitarian situation in southern Africa, affected by a drought and floods induced by the El Niño weather phenomenon, and how the WFP was planning to lead a comprehensive response to support the governments of the affected countries.
During the Group’s monthly meetings, the SADC ambassadors also focused on the ‘Future Summit and Digital Compact’ negotiations.
As part of its interventions at the various plenary meetings of the UN General Assembly, the Group reiterated its call for the lifting of economic sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Other topics such as the protection and promotion of the rights of the child, the promotion of children’s and human rights, the elimination of racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, dominated the Group’s agenda.
The commemorative even
ts organised by the SADC member states included the celebration of Southern African Liberation Day, marked for the first time at UN headquarters, as well as the centenary of Kenneth David Buchizya Kaunda, hero of the national liberation struggle and first president of Zambia.
Source: Angola Press News Agency
