Zimbabwe to Host SADC, EU Ministerial Forums

By Staff Reporter

Zimbabwe is set to take center stage in regional and global diplomacy this month when it hosts the Council of Ministers of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the SADC-European Union (EU) Ministerial Partnership Dialogue in Mt. Hampden at the New Parliament Building.

Starting on March 12 and ending March 14, 2025, the SADC Council of Ministers made up of the ministers of the 16 member countries will gather under the chairpersonship of Zimbabwe Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr. Amon Murwira. The council will review the implementation of previous SADC decisions and steer the progress of the regional bloc.

This session follows the pre-session meetings that took place between March 4-7 which included the SADC Standing Committee of Senior Officials, the Finance Committee, and discussion of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-2030.

After this session, on March 15, 2025, Zimbabwe will also be host the SADC-EU Ministerial Partnership Dialogue. It will be co-chaired by Poland’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Radosław Sikorski, whose country has the current rotating presidency of the EU Council, and Professor Murwira. Before theMarch 15 session, there will be a senior officials’ meeting on the 14th.

Created in 1994, the SADC-EU Dialogue hopes to enhance cooperation and relations in peace and security, trade, and sustainable economic development. This year’s session will consider progress made on SADC-EU cooperation programmes and the 2021-2027 Multiannual Indicative Programme for Sub-Saharan Africa (MIP SSA).

The SADC delegation will comprise members of the Double Troika member countries: Zimbabwe (current chair), Angola (past chair), and Madagascar (forthcoming chair) and Tanzania (SADC Organ chair), Zambia (past chair), Malawi (forthcoming chair), and the SADC Secretariat.

The EU delegation will comprise EEAS senior officials, European Commission, Polish government, and EU delegations’ heads to Botswana/SADC and Zimbabwe.

The hosting of such important meetings is a show of Zimbabwe’s commitment to regional and international relations and its role in ensuring cooperation between SADC and the European Union.