SADC, EU Jointly launch €15 million Support to Peace and Security in the SADC Region (SPSS) Programme

The Secretariat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the European Union (EU) Delegation to Botswana and SADC on 5th April 2019 jointly launched the Support to Peace and Security in the SADC Region (SPSS) Programme at an event held at Avani Hotel in Gaborone, Botswana.

The SPSS Programme is funded under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for a duration 3.5 years to the tune of €15 million and it is designed to strengthen the capacity of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation’s to promote peace, security and democracy across the SADC Region in line with the SADC Treaty and the Politics Defence and Security Cooperation of 2001.

The Programme builds on the gains made by the Regional Political Cooperation (RPC) programme launched in 2012 under the 10th EDF which has contributed significantly to strengthening SADC’s capacities to enhance democratic institutions, conflict prevention and management mechanisms.

“Development and security go hand-in-hand. There cannot be sustainable development without security, stability and peace. And there will be no real and lasting peace without truly sustainable development and poverty reduction. The links between security and development are clear, and addressing them is a political imperative for the European Union,” H.E. Ambassador Jan Sadek noted.

Original source: SADC
Published on 05 April 2019