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Message: [QUOTE="Nehanda, post: 29682, member: 2262"] Zimbabwe started hosting two big meetings at Victoria Falls today. Ministers, social partners, and trade experts from across Southern Africa arrived to tackle regional problems together. These gatherings focus on jobs, worker rights, and removing trade barriers between countries. Both events run until Friday with packed schedules for everyone involved. The first meeting brings together employment ministers from different countries. They plan to discuss unemployment rates, better working conditions, and social safety nets for workers. Senior officials started preparing documents today for the ministers who arrive Wednesday. The SADC group announced they'd address numerous employment matters affecting the entire region during these talks. Officials met last year in Angola to note progress on the regional employment agreement. Three countries—Angola, Malawi, and Eswatini—had already signed the document. Other nations promised to hold local discussions about joining by 2025. Everyone agreed this agreement would help create better jobs, protect worker rights, improve social security systems, and build stronger labor offices throughout Southern Africa. The second meeting targets trade barriers between member countries. SADC wants to make trading easier by creating common standards for products and services. Representatives will share information about quality control measures in their countries. They plan to track how well countries implement regional standards and fix any problems that block trade between neighbors. These trade discussions help member countries talk about standardization, quality checks, approval systems, and measurement issues. The yearly meetings also look at what the SADC office has accomplished to support quality standards across all member nations. They'll review recent changes to technical rules and plan their next actions together. The overall trade agreement aims to open up business between SADC countries. It wants to make production more efficient, attract more investment, grow economies, create different types of industries, and establish a free trade zone. Article 3 specifically asks countries to remove trade barriers by creating similar product standards and testing methods across borders. The attendees will include experts from standards groups, scientific agencies, legal measurement offices, inspection services, testing labs, and certification bodies. Regional and international organizations that work on standards will also join them. Zimbabwe, the current SADC chairperson, leads these discussions. [/QUOTE]

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