SADC to hold a virtual Extra Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on 2nd February 2024 on the cholera situation in the region

30 January 2024, Gaborone, Botswana: The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will hold a virtual Extra Ordinary Summit of Heads of State and Government on 2nd February 2024 to discuss the cholera situation in the SADC region.

The Extra Ordinary Summit will among others, receive and consider the report regarding the cholera situation in some Member States, the state of preparedness of SADC Member States, and responses to the cholera outbreaks in the Member States.

The Extra-ordinary Summit which will be chaired by the SADC Chairperson, His Excellency, João Manuel Gonçalves Lourenço, President of the Republic of Angola, comes against a background of a multi-country outbreak of cholera that some SADC Member States have experienced recently.

The fight against cholera aligns with the African Regional Framework for the Implementation of the Global Strategy for Cholera Prevention and Control, 2018 - 2030. This Framework supports the new global strategy for cholera control at the country level, providing a definitive pathway towards a world where cholera no longer poses a threat to public health.

The Extraordinary SADC Summit was preceded by the following meetings. 

• 27 January 2024: Extraordinary Meeting of the Committee of SADC Ministers of Health with technical support from the World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Africa Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC)

• 29 January 2024: Extraordinary Meeting of the SADC Council of Ministers

The SADC Summit is responsible for the overall policy direction and control of functions of the Community, ultimately making it the policy-making institution of SADC. 

The Press Release is attached below in 3 SADC working languages.