According to the final communiqué of the 43rd summit of SADC Heads of State and Government, the meeting also congratulated Member States, leadership and personnel of the Military Mission of the Southern African Development Community (SAMIM). ) for his dedication and contribution in supporting the mission aimed at achieving peace and security in the province of Cabo Delgado.
The Luanda meeting also received an updated report on the security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRCongo) and endorsed the deployment of the SADC Mission in that country to restore peace and security in that territory.
The SADC summit also defended the creation of the Region's Center for Humanitarian and Emergency Operations by next October and urged Member States to “accelerate” national processes aimed at signing and ratifying the memorandum.
The objective is to create and operationalize the SADC Center for Humanitarian Operations and Humanitarian Emergency (SHOC), “by October 2023 at the latest”.
The meeting, which brought together Heads of State and Government of the 16 Member States in Luanda, approved and signed the SADC Declaration on Accelerating Action to end HIV/AIDS in the region by 2030.
At this meeting, President João Lourenço was nominated to assume the rotating presidency of the regional bloc for the next 12 months, having received the organization's badges from the outgoing president, Félix Tshisekedi.
The President of Zimbabwe, Emmerson Mnangagwa, was elected as the next President of SADC, i.e. for the period 2024-2025, and the President of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, as President of the Organ on Cooperation in the Areas of Politics, Defense and Security of region.
Security, industrialization of the southern African region and economic integration were some of the topics discussed at this summit, which took place under the motto “Human and Financial Capital: The Main Factors for the Sustainable Industrialization of the SADC Region”.
According to the final communiqué, the summit took stock of the status of the political and security situation in the kingdom of Lesotho and expressed appreciation for the progress made and the commitment made by the Government of Lesotho to finalize the reform process.
The Luanda summit received assessment reports on the degree of implementation of the SADC Strategic Indicative Regional Development Plan 2020-2030, namely the region's economic situation, regional economic performance, infrastructure development, industrialization and others.
Member States also approved and signed a SADC Protocol on Employment and Labour, which, among other matters, defines a strategic framework for regional cooperation on employment and work-related issues.
