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Collin Matiza 

Sports Editor

ALL roads lead to the tourist city of Livingstone in Zambia as the African Union Sports Council Region 5 convenes a mid-term strategic plan review forum from today to Friday. 

The forum will be followed by the hosting of an inaugural Regional Walk for Life, a sport for all event aimed at attracting in excess of  1 000 participants from all walks of life to promote a culture of physical activity, fitness, fun and cultural heritage through traditional games. 

Speaking from Livingstone, Zambia, yesterday the Region 5 CEO,  Stanley Mutoya, reported to Zimpapers Sports that the Region will be conducting its mid-term assessment of the current 2018 — 2028 Strategic Plan to determine the milestones achieved and failures encountered, with the hope of sustaining the success factors and transforming the challenges encountered not opportunities for the future. 

“It is every progressive organisation’s desire to be the change champions and trailblazer of its industry. Region 5 is no exception” Mutoya said. “The process of reviewing our Strategic Plan resonates with our resolute and determined culture of excellence which demands that we constantly reflect on our way of doing business in order to refine our systems and processes for sustained excellence”. 

The Strategic Plan review forum will be officially opened by the Zambian Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts, Elvis Nkandu. 

He will be joined by the Zambia Minister of Tourism, Rodney Sikumba, and Minister of Southern Province,  Cornelius Mweetwa.

In addition, the Mayor of the City of Livingstone,  Constance Muleabai, and the District Commissioner, Eunice Nawa, will be part of the high-level cast of dignitaries to grace the occasion as will be Chairperson of the Region 5 Committee of Experts,  Jameson Ndalama of Malawi. 

Participants were carefully selected and drawn from a cross section of sports stakeholders which include global and continental organizations, business and commerce, civil society, Government, Olympic and Paralympic Movement including Special Olympics, Athletes and Sports Confederations. 

Among the notable participating organisations will be the IOC, ANOCA Zone VI, UNESCO, African Union Sports Council (Yaoundé), De Beers Group of Companies, Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation, RADO, Commonwealth Games Federation, the German International Development and Cooperation (GIZ), COSAFA and the Regional Anti-Doping Organisation. 

Over 80 delegates, facilitators and guests are expected to participate in what is expected to be a significant indaba aimed at shaping the future of sport in Southern Africa. 

The current Region 5 Strategic Plan addresses seven (7) Strategic Pillars which are derived from the Constitutional mandate of the organisation. 

These include Capacity Development, Sports Development; Sports for Development, Building the Case for Sport, Finance, Marketing and Communications and Organisational Effectiveness. 

The review of the Strategic Plan comes at an opportune time as the Region joins the world in slowly recovering from the tragic effects of the novel Covid-19 pandemic which brought the world to a grinding halt. This will afford Region 5 an opportunity to reflect on its business continuity and resilience strategies among others. 

As the Region takes stock of its milestones and challenges, it will be expected to consider ways of embracing emerging issues as well as design ways of aligning its strategy with global and continental policies such as the UNESCO Fit for Life, UN Sustainable Development Goals, African Union Agenda 2063 (The Africa we Want) as well as TAFISA Mission 2030. 

On the margins of the Strategic Review Forum, Region 5 and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Arts (MYSA) will jointly host the inaugural Regional Walk for Life event on Saturday. 

The event is expected to draw over 1 000 participants from all walks of life under the theme, “STOP GENDER BASED VIOLENCE”.

Each of the nine Region 5 Member Countries is expected to conduct national walks concurrently with the Livingstone event with a target of reaching 1 000 participants per country thus adding up to a cumulative estimated 10 000 participants walking across the Region. 

Activities will include 5km and 2.5km walks, aerobics, fun & traditional games. There will also be information dissemination on Gender based violence and other health and social issues affecting residents. 

Participants will also have a rare opportunity for free health screening in an effort to promote healthy and fit citizens through a culture of physical activity and exercise. 

The walk will be graced by the Zambian Minister of Youth, Sport and Arts, Nkandu. 

Other notable delegates who will be in attendance include the Minister of Southern Province of Zambia, Cornelius Mweetwa, Minister of Tourism, Rodney Sikumba, the Chairperson of the Region 5 Committee of Experts, Isaac Katopola, and CEO,  Mutoya.

Others include Her Worship the Mayor of Livingstone,  Constance Muleabai, and the District Commissioner,  Eunice Nawa, as well as 60 delegates drawn from all 10 Region 5 member Countries and beyond. 

The African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 is one of the five Regions entrusted with the responsibility to develop sport under the African Union. 

Members of the Region comprise of Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.