The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
The imposition of strict travel restrictions on Southern Africa, following the recent discovery of the Omicron variant, has thrown into disarray several Government diplomatic re-engagement programmes that had been scheduled for this month, The Sunday Mail has gathered.
Dozens of countries have imposed restrictions on travel from Southern Africa.
Spokesperson in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Mr Livit Mugejo, said the Ministry’s calendar has been negatively impacted by the restrictions.
“I can confirm that travel restrictions have affected almost everyone, including the programmes of the Ministry. What it means is that all the meetings that were scheduled have been postponed or cancelled due to the travel restrictions,” said Mr Mugejo.
“The General Council decided to postpone the 12th WTO (World Trade Organisation) Ministerial Council Conference (MC12) after an outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 led several governments to impose travel restrictions that would have prevented many Ministers from reaching Geneva. The MC12 was due to start on 30 November to 3 December 2021.”
“The 4th UN Peacekeeping Ministerial meeting that was scheduled to be held in Seoul, Korea from 7 to 8 December 2021 will now be held virtually,” said Mr Mugejo said.
In addition, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Conference, which was supposed to be held in the Netherlands from November 29 to December 3, 2021 was cancelled.
Government has been utilising multilateral platforms to drive its re-engagement agenda through engaging in bilateral engagements with key international stakeholders.
