The SADC Vision 2050 aims to provide a framework for a long-term vision for SADC as the region seeks to position itself in a context of emerging global and continental issues such as climate change, democratisation of the United Nations and increasing financial instability.

According to the SADC chairperson, Angolan President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, the intention is to set in motion a development agenda that takes into account the dynamics of events and issues affecting not only the southern African region, but also the rest of the world.

SADC HAS reinforced its support for South African Home Affairs Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma for the top African Union (AU) Commission post.

Elections to choose the new AU Commission chairperson will be held at the forthcoming 19th AU Summit set for Ethiopia in mid-July.

The interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the EU and four Eastern and Southern African states – Mauritius, Madagascar, Seychelles and Zimbabwe – came into effect on 14 May following several years of painful negotiations.

Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity secretariat, Braulio de Souza Dias, said this progress should be maintained and improved to ensure that by 2020 the ecosystems are resilient and continue to provide essential services, thereby securing the planet's variety of life and contributing to human wellbeing and poverty eradication.

The 2020 goal is part of the United Nations Strategic Plan for Biodiversity and is also one of the key targets of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets adopted in 2010 to address the underlying causes of biodiversity loss by mainstreaming biodiversity across all sectors.