SADC leaders tackle wars, HIV/AIDS, trade

Leaders of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) held a second and final day of talks on Monday aimed at seeking to revive the peace processes in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Angola. According to officials contacted by IRIN and news reports of the summit in the Namibian capital, Windhoek, the leaders meeting behind closed doors, were also expected to approve a free-trade pact, adopt a regional approach to the HIV/AIDS crisis, and seek consensus over a controversial regional defence body. DRC President laurent-Desire Kabila avoided the Windhoek summit in what critics and local news reports called a “snub”, following his decision to prevent the deployment of UN peacekeepers. News reports quoted his foreign minister saying Kabila was “too busy” to attend. He also rejected the mediation of former Botswana President Sir Ketumile Masire, reportedly saying he was not a “facilitator”, but a “complicator”. The issue of the SADC regional defence and security body is directly linked to the DRC crisis, diplomats said. Member states led by South Africa have accused Zimbabwe, which holds the chairmanship of the body, of acting too independently of the SADC heads of state. This stems from the 1998 decision for Zimbabwean, Namibian and Angolan forces to intervene and help Kabila against Rwandan and Ugandan-backed rebels. Conference sources said the three nations were being asked to help revive the collapsed peace deal. Reuters said SADC leaders now wanted to bring the defence body under the SADC’s collective control through its Botswana-based secretariat. The impact of HIV/AIDS News reports said the heads of state were also expected to announce joint measures to fight HIV/AIDS, which has affected an estimated 11 million people out of a regional population of 190 million. “Our socio-economic achievements continue to be severely hampered by the devastating impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which is claiming the lives of our most precious resource - the young, working-age group,” SADC chairman, President Joaquim Chissano of Mozambique said on Sunday. Chissano said 10 percent of the labour force in the SADC region was infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS and the figure was rising. Former South African President Nelson Mandela urged also urged SADC leaders to tackle AIDS collectively. The SADC is made up of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Tanzania, the Congo, Mozambique, Malawi, Mauritius, Seychelles, Swaziland, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. A free trade zone Meanwhile, after years of wrangling, 11 SADC nations have approved a free trade agreement aimed at eliminating all tariffs in the region within 12 years, officials said. The leaders of South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Mauritius and Malawi were to sign the accord on Monday. The deal was finalised on Friday at a SADC council of ministers meeting, said South Africa’s Foreign Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. “It’s a very important protocol in terms of integration of the region and also for the trade of all our countries,” the South African Press Association quoted her as saying. The accord aims to simplify investment and trade among SADC countries. Differences over a timetable for the reduction of tariffs and so-called rules of origin, which establish the source of products qualifying for tariff reduction, have delayed its adoption. Officials said three SADC countries, DRC, Angola and Seychelles, were not party to the agreement, but might join later. Under the deal, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, which make up the Southern African Customs Union, must liberalize faster than less-developed SADC members. Signatories are expected to phase out a minimum of 85 percent of tariffs within eight years, and all tariffs by the end of 2012.