Africa-Press – Angola. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) began the process to operationalize the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Committee (AML/CFT), provided for in the protocol on Finance and Investment of this regional bloc.
According to a statement cited Monday, the process aims to intensify SADC’s efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
To this end, SADC has on its agenda the inaugural AML/CFT meeting for February this year, aiming to facilitate the convergence of policies, laws and regulatory practices of Member States, within the scope of the recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as well as supporting effective and proportionate action against money laundering and terrorist financing in the region.
According to the document, the operationalization of the SADC AML/CFT Committee follows the decision taken by the Ministers of Finance and Investment at the meeting held in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in July 2023.
During the meeting, Member States were informed of the recommendations of the two studies commissioned under the Support Program for Improving Investment and the Business Environment (SIBE), namely the assessment of the level of risk for the implementation of FATF recommendations and assessment the capabilities of national authorities to combat illicit money.
It should be remembered that Angola assumed, last year, the rotating presidency of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), during the 43rd Ordinary Summit of the region’s Heads of State and Government.
President João Lourenço received the testimony of the presidency of the organization from his counterpart from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Félix Tshisekedi Tshilombo.
On the occasion, when delivering the speech that elected him, the acting president of the regional Organization, João Lourenço, promised to work so that SADC becomes more peaceful and developed from a socioeconomic and political point of view.
Lourenço also chose the resolution of the security crisis in the DRC as one of the challenges of his mandate, despite the various initiatives already carried out within the framework of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL).
He said that the idea is to respond to the expectations of the region’s citizens, with a view to achieving the organization’s ‘Vision 2050’, which envisages a more stable area from a political and social point of view.
“In this year of presidency, we will seek to work, carefully and with a sense of responsibility, to face, in a united way, the great present and future challenges that our organization will have at hand”, assured the Angolan statesman, for whom these actions They will also involve guaranteeing more justice and freedom for the region’s citizens.
Human and financial capital and sustainable industrialization
João Lourenço made it known that the theme of the 43rd ordinary SADC Summit (human and financial capital: the main factors for sustainable industrialization in the SADC region), which is based on the first pillar of the SADC Strategic Indicative Plan for Regional Development, will allow creation of opportunities to advance the agenda of a region oriented towards technological and industrial transformation, through the development of skills, the strengthening of financial capacity and the deepening of regional integration and the social growth of populations.
The Head of State assured that his presidency will devote special attention to the integration of women in the region’s development process, with a view to building a society with greater social justice.
He highlighted that, although important progress has been made in recent years in the region in terms of materializing gender parity, with women in prominent positions, the results are still below those established by SADC.
In order to change this situation, the new president-in-office of SADC announced that he will work with Member States to create mechanisms and incentives, at regional level, that facilitate the inclusion of women in the most varied sectors, in which the numbers are still worrying, with emphasis on areas linked to engineering and technology, which he said is part of the region’s main challenge.
“In Angola we have sought to give women a relevant role in all sectors of national life”, informed the Head of State, highlighting that Angola recognizes and values the active and positive role played by women, within the framework of the complex responsibilities that have been assigned to them. entrusted.
President João Lourenço welcomed, in this regard, the fact that the SADC Gender and Development Monitor was launched in 2022 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), through which member states make a commitment to parity gender and women’s empowerment, thus promoting female participation in all sectors, such as politics, economic and business activity, Science, Sports, the Defense and Security sector, associations and other areas of life of SADC countries.
In the search for solutions for a greater valorization of human capital, João Lourenço said that he defined, as one of the main challenges of his presidency, the training and technical-professional training of youth, with a view to obtaining skills that facilitate access to employment, and ensure preparation to face the challenges of the 4th Industrial Revolution and the Digitalization of the region’s economies.
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