Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mulambo Haimbe says government has been spending over US$74,500 every year in renting a building for the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU ECOSOCC) Secretariat.
Mr Haimbe says the government has since allocated 10 acres of land in Lusaka for the construction of a permanent structure for the ECOSSOC Secretariat to forestall the cost of renting.
The media reports that the ECOSSOC Secretariat was relocated to Lusaka in 2019 from the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate office in the African Union Commission.
And Zambia has expressed satisfaction that ECOSSOC has demonstrated increased programme implementation capacity since relocating its secretariat to Lusaka in 2019.
Mr Haimbe said in his statement to the Executive Council ordinary session of the African Union in Addis Ababa today that ECOSSOC has also attracted substantial interest from international partners who are now offering variable resources.
The Minister has also reaffirmed Zambia’s commitment to hosting the ECOSSOC Secretariat in Lusaka and has since allocated a four acre piece of land for constructing…
He further extolled the ECOSSOC Secretariat for introducing the Kenneth Kaunde Graduate Immersion Programme last year, which is aimed at equipping high performing, recent Zambian graduates with practical experience in policy research, project coordination and organization operations.
The programme also serves as a bridge between academic training and real-world professional practice within the African Union.
