The Standing Committee of Senior Officials of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) kicked off their meeting on 04 March 2024, ahead of the meeting of the Council of Ministers scheduled to be held on 10 -11 March 2024 in Luanda, Republic of Angola.
Speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Dr. Nazaré José Salvador, Director of the SADC Desk in Angola in the Ministry of External Relations of the Republic of Angola, and Chairperson of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials highlighted that Angola, as the current Chair of SADC, has continued to champion programmes with a focus on human and financial capital for sustainable industrialisation in the SADC Region, in line with the theme for the 43rd SADC Summit.
His Excellency Ambassador Téte António, Minister of External Relations of the Republic of Angola will Chair the meeting in his capacity as the Chairperson of the SADC Council of Ministers.
The Ministers will review and discuss the status of implementation of the SADC Council and Summit Decisions; as well as review progress on the implementation of theme of the 43rd SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government which is “Human and Financial Capital: The Key Drivers for Sustainable Industrialisation in the SADC Region”.The theme seeks to address two of the most critical enablers in supporting regional industrialisation, namely adequate human resources within the context of climate change and 4th Industrial Revolution, and adequate financial resources to ensure more sustainable funding mechanisms.
The Ministers will also receive updates on the implementation of various programmes and activities of regional integration; assess progress made during the 2023/2024 Financial Year; deliberate on the outlook for 2024/2025 and discuss and approve the SADC Secretariat’s Annual Corporate Plan and Budget for the year 2024/2025.
The SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials is a technical advisory committee to the Council of Ministers which acts as a clearing house for the agenda of the Council of Ministers. The SADC Council of Ministers is responsible for overseeing the function and development of SADC and ensures that SADC policies are properly implemented accordingly.
The SADC Council of Ministers consists of Ministers from each of the SADC Member States; usually from the Ministries responsible for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Economic Planning, Finance or Trade, and they meet twice a year in March, and August.
The Executive Secretary of SADC, His Excellency Mr Elias M. Magosi, the SADC Secretariat Deputy Executive Secretaries, Ms. Angele N’tumba for Regional Integration, and Dr Judith Kateera for Corporate Affairs; and the Permanent Secretaries, and other Senior Officials from the SADC Member States are among the delegates in the meeting of the SADC Senior Officials.
