The Southern African Development Community (Sadc) Council of Ministers meeting on Saturday concluded setting the agenda for the 41st Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit to begin this week in Lilongwe.
Council chairperson Eisenhower Mkaka, who is also the country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs said everything is ready for the summit to start on August 17 and conclude on August 19.
He said: “The overarching mission and goal of Sadc is regional integration, including industrialisation, infrastructure development, social and human development as well as peace and security.
“Let me acknowledge that leaders will also talk about hunger—as there are pockets of hunger in the region—but the good news is that many countries have surplus harvest and the affected countries will be catered for by the recorded surplus”.
Mkaka said the leaders cannot avoid from discussing issues of Covid-19 and regional conflicts.
Sadc executive secretary Stergomena Lawrence Tax on Friday acknowledged that Covid-19 continues to ravage and overwhelm the already weak health systems in the region.
“While Sadc member States have embarked on the roll out of the Covid-19 vaccines, its availability remains quite low,” she said.
The summit has brought together about 400 delegates and will be held under the theme Bolstering productive capacities in the face of Covid-19 pandemic for inclusive, sustainable, economic and industrial transformation.
Malawi hosted the summit in August 1997 and August 2013.
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