The SADC Secretariat and a delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany on November 25th successfully concluded one-day consultations on the future of SADC German cooperation. At the outset, both sides recognized the significance and value added of more than twenty years of co operation during which the German Government has committed around €300 million for SADC.
Based on the SADC Treaty and Protocols, the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development
Plan (RISDP) and the Revised Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ (SIPO), both sides agreed on the
overarching aim of “Supporting the Deepening of Regional Integration.For the benefit of the people in the SADC Region, with a special focus on :
- Regional Economic Integration and Infrastructure,
- Peace, Security and Good Governance and Management and
- Protection of Biodiversity and Resilience to Climate Change.
Specific areas of cooperation will be Regional Economic Integration; Transboundary Water Management; Peace, Security and Good Governance; Transboundary Use and Protection of Natural Resources and Resilience to Climate Change; and SADC Organizational Capacity Development. Within the various areas, increased importance will be given to support SADCs priorities of industrial development and infrastructure in the region.
It was agreed that SADC and Germany will continue to strengthen their cooperation and partnership. Germany will also intensify its cooperation with SADC Member States and other stakeholders. Moreover, both sides underlined the importance of engaging in joint programmes with other International Cooperation Partners to enhance synergies and avoid duplications and overlaps. As a first important step, the EU delegation in Gaborone participated throughout the consultations as an observer.
The results of the consultations will guide future German commitments and prepare the next round of SADC-German negotiations to be held in Gaborone in June 2015.
At the signing ceremony of the summary record, H.E. Mr. Rolf Ulrich, the German Ambassador to Gaborone and Observer to SADC, was happy to announce further German commitments to SADC. In 2014, the German Government has made an additional €26 million Euro available to SADC to carry out the following joint programmes:
- Peace, Security and Good Governance (€ 3 million)
- Transboundary Use and Protection of Natural Resources in the SADC region (€8 million),
- Regional Fund for Water Supply and Basic Sanitation (€ 10 million)
- Transfrontier Conservation Area Great Limpopo (€5 million).
In accepting the commitments made by Germany, H.E. Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax confirmed the relevance of the long standing German support that is contributing towards the implementation of the SADC Common Agenda.
