Inter Press Service - November 9, 2002
Lina Mucanse

The EU and the Southern African Development Community signed the agreement, which provides a comprehensive framework for the EU-Southern Africa cooperation for 2002/2007, in the Mozambican capital, Maputo, this week.

European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Paul Nielson, said the -- non-repayable -- funds have been allocated from the 9th European Development Fund (EDF), which is the financial instrument of EU-ACP Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou, Benin, in June 2000.

The funds will be used in support of regional integration in Southern Africa, in the areas of economic integration, trade, transport, communication, and food aid.

SADC Executive Secretary, Prega Ramsamy, said the agreement does not only cement the relations between SADC and the EU, it also heralds a new era of cooperation and dialogue between the two regions under the auspices of the Cotonou Agreement.

This is the second document to be adopted in support of regional integration. The first one, for the pacific region, was signed in Fiji on Oct 5.

The agreement was signed during the EU-SADC ministerial meeting held in Maputo on Nov 7-8.

Mozambican president, Joaquim Chissano, who opened the conference, said his country considered dialogue as one of the most important pillars of cooperation.

Chissano noted that the SADC-EU ministerial conference was taking place at the time when the region was celebrating the dawn of lasting peace and stability in Angola and in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

"With peace and stability in Angola and DRC we can channel all our efforts and resources towards the reduction and ultimate eradication of absolute poverty in the SADC region," Chissano said.

Chissano, however, noted with concern the worsening food crisis in the region. He said the food crisis in the region is aggravated by HIV/AIDS pandemic. An estimated 10 million people, or about five percent of the total population of the SADC region, are living with HIV/AIDS.

"In addition, all the major strides attained in human resources development are fast being reversed by the pandemic as the region is losing engineers, teachers, nurses and other specialists," he said.

From December to March, 14.4 million people in Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho and Swaziland face the threat of starvation. In every country, HIV/AIDS has played a major role in exacerbating the crisis.

Fifteen European nations participated in the meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark on Nov 5. The EU informed SADC that the Zimbabwe Foreign Minister, Stan Mudenge would not be able to attend as he is banned from travelling to Europe as a result of the sanctions imposed on the Zimbabwean regime by the European Union this year. In response, SADC leaders threatened, en masse, to boycott the meeting. A compromise was eventually reached and it was agreed to host the meeting in Maputo.

In a statement, Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), urged the EU-SADC meeting to put Zimbabwe near the top of the agenda.

"We sincerely hope that EU-SADC ministers use their opportunity to focus minds on the regional implications of the crisis in Zimbabwe and not push Zimbabwe under the carpet as part of a strategic sacrifice to make progress on other issues. Any discussion on democracy, peace and stability cannot ignore the crisis in Zimbabwe," said MDC Secretary General, Welshman Ncube.

"EU-SADC ministers should seek to publicly censure Stan Mudenge and make it clear to him that the actions of (President Robert) Mugabe are anathema to efforts being made to entrench and strengthen democracy in the region," he added.

"Mugabe's violent actions are a scar on the SADC region and potentially pose a threat to the stability of neighbouring states, in particular Mozambique and Botswana," he warned.

Grace Kwinjeh, the MDC EU representative, also warned the ministers gathering in Maputo not to fall for the "ruling ZANU-PF propaganda that insinuates that land reform lies at the heart of Zimbabwe's crisis".

Saying it was redressing past colonial land-ownership imbalance, the Zimbabwean government has seized farms from 4,500 white farmers who owned 70 percent of the country's prime farmland. At least 10 white farmers have been killed, while more than a million labourers have been rendered homeless, since the land-reform campaign began in 2000.

The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO forum has reported 58 murders in political violence during 2002.

In a similar statement this week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) highlighted crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zimbabwe, Angola and Swaziland that should be addressed at the meeting in Maputo.

"In Angola, despite the cease-fire implemented this year and ongoing peace efforts, 1.7 million internally displaced people remain at substantial risk of abuse by government officials as well as demobilised soldiers," said Bronwen Manby, HRW deputy director of the Africa Division.

He said humanitarian agencies have repeatedly stressed the need for greater support for Angola's displaced but both the United Nations and the EU have done little to ameliorate the situation.

"Human Rights Watch is especially concerned by reports that some people have been forced to return to their areas of origin despite the ongoing danger in those regions," said Manby.

Human Rights watch also called on meeting participants to address the crisis in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC is SADC's newest member and the site of the worst human rights violations.

Although Rwanda, Uganda and Zimbabwe have withdrawn government troops, they continue to support warring Congolese rebel factions in the power struggles that have followed the withdrawal of foreign troops, said Human Rights Watch.

"Hundreds of civilians have died because of fighting in the provinces of South Kivu, Ituri and Orientale during the last few weeks alone. Some two million people in the region have been displaced and most do not have access to humanitarian assistance," it added.(END/IPS/AF/LM/MN/02)

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