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THE Southern African Development Community (Sadc) has urged its member States to maintain compliance with the set Covid-19 mitigation protocols so as to ensure business continuity within the region.
Regional member states including Zimbabwe have embraced lockdown measures as well as mandatory masking, sanitisation and temperature checks as part of measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.
Vaccinations are also being rolled out with Zimbabwe being named among the few countries in Africa that are doing well in securing vaccines for their citizens.
The call comes at a time when the sub-region and the rest of Africa, is grappling with the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The pandemic continues to inflict devastating effects on the lives and wellbeing of the people in the region, as evidenced by the rising death toll, loss of jobs, political instability and escalated income inequality, said the bloc.
This emerged during a recent virtual Sadc Ministerial Task Force on Regional Integration (MTF) and Committee of the Ministers of Trade (CMT) meeting, which was presided over by Mr Carlos Mesquita, Minister of Industry and Trade of Mozambique.
The meeting deliberated on a number of issues pertaining to the regional integration, which includes the implementation of Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063).
Regional integration is seen as a critical step in helping Sadc countries overcome divisions that impede the flow of goods, services, capital, people and ideas.
“The meeting noted that in order to ensure continuity of Sadc business, member States will need to adhere to their national Covid-19 response plans as well as the “hybrid plan” for regional meetings that was approved by Ministers of Health in their meeting on 17 June 2021 and endorsed by Council on 22 June 2021,” said Sadc.
“Notwithstanding the challenges, the region remains vigilant and committed towards attainment of the objectives as enshrined in the priority areas of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) and indeed the Sadc vision.”
The Sadc secretariat has vowed to continue working closely with the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) to gather information on the evolution of the pandemic and to provide updates to member States in real time.
Meanwhile, the ministers’ meeting noted that the availability of adequate supplies of vaccines remains a great concern for sustaining the current vaccination momentum that is being observed throughout the region.
Countries in the region have largely received their vaccine supplies through the COVAX facility, but many have also been engaged in bilateral negotiations with vaccine manufacturers and friendly governments to acquire vaccines, said Sadc.
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