Luanda – The Southern African Development Community (SADC) called on Wednesday, in the Province of Luanda, the lifting of sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe.
In a declaration signed by the acting Chairman of the organisation, João Lourenço, the SADC call for an immediate end to the sanctions on Zimbabwe is centred on the growing concern about the impact of sanctions on the country and also on the region.
According to the statement, as a regional organisation, SADC strongly agrees that sanctions targeting some individuals in Zimbabwe have a negative impact on the country. It has been more than 20 years since the imposition of these targeted sanctions - two decades marked by the inability of the people of Zimbabwe to fully realise their potential in various sectors as a nation.
It claims that this reality, which is not new to the international community, damages Zimbabwe's image and prevents it from accessing the financial and capital markets, adding that “the scale of this blockage to social and economic growth of Zimbabwe, in terms of the livelihoods of its people, represents a modern-day atrocity that SADC region considers to be an obstacle that leaves one of our members behind in the common pursuit of regional integration, growth and prosperity."
SADC reiterates that the organisation wants the international community to consider the report by the United Nations special rapporteur, Alena Douhan, on the negative impact of unilateral coercive measures on human rights, following her visit to Zimbabwe, which proposes the lifting of sanctions within the framework of the fundamental principles of international law
"Our call for the lifting of sanctions against Zimbabwe is made as a firm request to the international community for a new rhetoric, a new story and a new direction for the country. The unconditional lifting of sanctions will create the conditions for Zimbabwe and the SADC region to strengthen their collective efforts to boost national and regional growth and to develop substantially in the critical areas of governance, human rights and social cohesion. It is therefore incumbent on all stakeholders to do their part to revise the discourse in favour of the Government and people of the Republic of Zimbabwe," says the statement.
He said that at a time when global insecurities pose other pertinent food security challenges to the African continent and the SADC region, the sanctions imposed on the Republic of Zimbabwe create an alarming double threat to the livelihoods and survival of its people.
The document reveals that SADC will continue to be ready to support, by any means necessary, the serious lifting of sanctions imposed on the Republic of Zimbabwe, believing that shared humanity as a global community will guide all relevant actors to take concrete steps in this direction.
In the statement, SADC reaffirms its unwavering solidarity with the government and people of Zimbabwe.
Angola holds the rotating presidency of SADC, which includes Botswana, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Comoros, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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