The 34th Ordinary Summit Meeting of the SADC Heads of State and Government is scheduled to take place at Elephant Hill Resort Hotel Centre in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, from 17th to 18th August, 2014.

The Summit will be preceded by the Meetings of the Standing Committee of Senior Officials to be held, from 10th to 12th August, 2014; and the SADC Council of Ministers, from 14th to 15th August, 2014, respectively.

The objective of the Summit is, among others, to undertake an overview assessment of the political and socio-economic development in the region; consider the Report on the Revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) for 2015-2020; the Report on the SADC Tribunal; as well as the Appointment of the Deputy Executive Secretary responsible for Finance and Administration.

The Summit will further receive reports from the Outgoing Chairpersons of SADC and the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation. The Summit will also receive the Progress Report on the SADC Strategic Challenges, Threats and Opportunities in the Long-term: the SADC Vision 2050 and finally consider Legal Instruments for Signing.

The other key important issue during the Summit is that Malawi is expected to handle over its SADC Chairpersonship to the Republic of Zimbabwe at all levels namely: Standing Committee of Senior Officials, Council of Ministers and Summit.

As part of handing over the Chairpersonship, Malawi’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, George Mkondiwa, on Sunday, 10th August 2014, handed over the seat to his Zimbabwean counterpart.

During the Summit, His Excellency Professor Arthur Peter Mutharika, President of the Republic of Malawi and Chairperson of SADC will present a report on the activities undertaken during the period under review. The Malawi’s SADC Chairmanship was held under theme “Agriculture development and agro-industries: Key for Economic Growth and Poverty Eradication in the SADC Region” focusing on the empowerment of women and the youth.

In that regard, Malawi spearheaded the development of the “SADC Strategy on Food and Nutrition Security” for 2015-2025 focusing on women and the youth. This Strategy is primarily developed to achieve the core objective of our theme which is also in line with the target in the SADC Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) to reduce the population affected by extreme hunger.

During the Zimbabwe’s SADC Chairmanship, the theme is entitled “SADC Strategy for Economic Transformation: Leveraging the Region’s Diverse Resources for Sustainable Economic and Social Development through Beneficiation and Value Addition.” SADC is expected to develop a Strategy to implement this theme which is key for industrialization in the SADC Region.