Online Reporter
Gibson Nyikadzino
Zimpapers Politics Hub
The support Zimbabwe received during its election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council demonstrates the unity, collective voice and shared global responsibilities of the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), Deputy Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Sheila Chikomo has said.
Addressing delegates at the 121st Session of the OACPS in Brussels, Belgium last week, Deputy Minister Chikomo expressed Zimbabwe’s gratitude to the member states for their support, noting that Zimbabwe will engage with all as it approaches the assumption of its UNSC responsibilities.
The 121st OACPS Session was held over two days under the theme “A Transformed and Renewed OACPS in a Changing World.”
“Allow me to take this opportunity to express our profound gratitude to the OACPS and its member States for their continued solidarity and support for Zimbabwe’s candidature for a non-permanent seat on the UNSC for the 2027-2028 term.
“This support is a demonstration of the unity and collective voice that our organisation seeks to project on the global stage, and we look forward to continued engagement with member states as we approach assumption of our responsibilities,” Deputy Minister Chikomo said.
The Brussels meeting sought to translate the resolutions made in May this year at the 11th Summit of the OACPS Heads of State and Government in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, into concrete action.
Zimbabwe welcomed the Implementation Matrix and Roadmap of the Malabo Declaration, structured around institutional renewal, economic transformation, and a people-centred global voice over the period 2026-2029.
Deputy Minister Chikomo said the value-addition and beneficiation of critical and strategic mineral wealth and an OACPS Digital Strategy were of prime importance to Zimbabwe’s national agenda for industrialisation and economic transformation.
“We attach particular importance to the priorities on value addition and beneficiation of critical and strategic minerals and the development of an OACPS digital strategy, which speak directly to our national agenda for industrialisation and economic transformation.”
Zimbabwe was last month elected as a non-permanent member of the UNSC, garnering 182 out of 191 votes, an overwhelming backing from 96 percent of UN member states and a resounding endorsement of its international engagement and re-engagement policy.
