Page 12 - 40th Summit Brochure 2020

40TH ANNIVERSARY MESSAGE

SADC
40 Years Building Peace and Security, Promoting Development and Resilience
to Global Challenges

MESSAGE FROM HIS EXCELLENCY FILIPE JACINTO NYUSI,
PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOZAMBIQUE,
ON THE OCCASION OF THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF SADC

It is with great joy that we commemorate, on 17 August 2020, the 40th Anniver-
sary since the establishment of our regional Organisation, the Southern African
Development Community (SADC). This year we mark this event under the
theme, SADC: 40 Years Building Peace and Security, Promoting Development and
Resilience to Global Challenges, as a way to honour our history by making the con-
solidation of political liberation indelible and the regional economic integration
of our countries and peoples irreversible.
The SADC we are so proud of is deeply rooted in the extraordinary and courageous vision of 9
the leaders of the Front Line States who decided to establish the Southern African Development Co-
ordination Conference (SADCC).
As a consequence of lengthy consultations, leaders from nine countries -- Angola, Botswana,
Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Kingdom of Swaziland (now Eswatini), Tanzania, Zambia and Zim-
babwe converged in Lusaka, Republic of Zambia, on 1 April 1980, to found the SADCC.
The vision and aim of the SADCC was to promote economic liberation, in particular to reduce
dependence on South Africa which was then under Apartheid. Member States committed themselves
to this goal by fully tapping into human capacities and internal resources as well as in mobilising
partnerships, and with support from peace- and progress-loving countries.
With the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980, and Namibia in 1990, and the end of the apartheid
regime in South Africa already in sight, the region took a giant leap in its struggle.
It was in the context of these events that our States realised that, more than freeing itself from
dependence on apartheid South Africa, the moment had come to focus its agenda on the integrated
socio-economic development of the region as a whole. Thus, on 17 August 1992, in Windhoek, Re-
public of Namibia, the SADCC was transformed into the Southern African Development Community
(SADC).
Today, 40 years after our collective journey, we are justifiably proud to see that we
have achieved many milestones towards the bright future we dreamed of. We see
this clearly in the environment of peace and stability in Southern Africa; we
see it in the growth of intra-regional trade; we see it in the functioning of
institutional mechanisms for conflict prevention, management and res-
olution; and we see it in the deepening of freedoms and democracy.
We are pleased to note that the march towards regional political,
economic and social integration continues firm, as the number of
Member States grew from nine in 1980, to 16, with the addition of
South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Mau-
ritius, Namibia, Seychelles, and the Union of Comoros.
Some of the gains of the Organisation are the movement
of people and goods, and the implementation of various
protocols that we have signed and ratified.