Botschaft, Topnews, Pressespiegel, SADC
25. Oktober 2011
SADC Day in Germany
Berlin, 20 October 2011. On Thursday, 20 October 2011, eleven of the fourteen Southern Africa Developing Community (SADC) countries which are based in Berlin celebrated for the first time, “SADC DAY” in Germany. Each year, citizens of SADC come together on 17 August to celebrate SADC DAY. This Day was set aside following the 1992 Windhoek Treaty that transformed the South African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) into Southern African Development Community (SADC).
This year’s SADC DAY celebration was dedicated to “the Protection and Development of the Child” and hosted at the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa, Berlin.
The theme of the SADC Day celebration, “Bridging the gap between SADC and German children,” saw many happy and excited children participating from the Nelson Mandela School, Die Arche, Caritas and SOS Kinderdorf, under the patronage of Mrs Wullff, First Lady of the Federal Republic of Germany, who was the guest speaker of the day. A general belief is that celebrating SADC Day would be more significant if it involves children. This will help them understand the role young citizens can play in the process of improving regional integration.
The First Lady, Bettina Wulff, has increasingly emphasised the importance of education and development of young children and was very impressed by the traditional games from the home countries, played by the SADC children.
The event included the singing of the SADC Anthem by students from the Nelson Mandela School in Berlin, a presentation of traditional dress from the participating SADC countries, a display of games that are played by the SADC children and the sampling of traditional SADC cuisine.
(This document is available in English only)