DIRCO Annual Report

• The department prepared for and participated virtually, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in the following OACPS high-level meetings: the first-ever Inter-sessional Extraordinary OACPS Summit on the pandemic on 3 June 2020, the Extraordinary Session of the Council of Ministers on 28 July 2020 and the 111th Session of the Council of Ministers during 14,15 and 17 December 2020. While the summit provided the opportunity for President Ramaphosa, then AU Chair, to share the experience, challenges and strategy of the AU on the pandemic with other regions and partners, including the World Health Organisation, the ministerial meetings focussed largely on the transformation process of the OACPS. Firstly, the Georgetown Agreement, constitutive act of the ACP Group, which had been revised to assist the ACP Group to meet the current-day challenges, came into force on 5 April 2020, transforming the ACP into the OACPS. Secondly, the ongoing post-Cotonou negotiations for a new OACPS-EU Partnership Agreement saw the agreement being endorsed by the December 2020 Council of Ministers. As the new Partnership Agreement had to undergo a period of legal scrubbing and translation before it will be initialled, it is expected to ultimately be signed in Apia, Samoa, by the end of 2021, which necessitated the further extension of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement.

the key components of South Africa’s approved strategy during our recent Chairship of IORA (2017 – 2019). India Brazil South Africa (IBSA) • The IBSA Dialogue Forum has provided an important value-driven mechanism for South Africa to address historical inequalities and imbalances, to safeguard and advance mutual political, economic and social interests, common positions and shared values in the pursuit of a just and equitable developmental agenda and global order. • The IBSA Fund for Poverty and Hunger Alleviation has, over the span of 15 years, successfully promoted all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 21 partner countries through 27 projects with a total disbursement of US$31 million to date. The fund’s contribution to Africa is especially notable, having reached eight African countries with 14 projects being implemented since 2003. With global efforts to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) modelled its training programme for its healthcare workers operating in far-flung, remote areas, on an IBSA-funded project e-learning platform developed for Vietnam’s rural healthcare workers. • The Sixth IBSA Summit is scheduled to be hosted (back-to-back with the BRICS Summit) in September 2021. Engagement with the African, Caribbean and Pacific states • The department prepared for and participated in the 111th Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) Council of Ministers during May 2020 in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the postponement of the 111th Session of the OACPS Council of Ministers and it ultimately took place virtually on 14, 15 and 17 December 2020. South Africa was represented at the 111th OACPS Council of Ministers by Deputy Minister Alvin Botes, who normally attends the OACPS ministerial on behalf of Minister Naledi Pandor. The 111th Session of the OACPS Council of Ministers dealt with a number of key issues, including the endorsement of the new OACPS-European Union (EU) Partnership Agreement and the extension of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement, until 30 November 2020, as well as the restructuring of the OACPS Secretariat.

Department of International Relations and Cooperation

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