International Relations and Cooperation Deputy Minister Ebrahim I Ebrahim to co-chair the SA-Cuba 9th JCM on 29 and 30 August 2011 in Cuba

The Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Mr Ebrahim I Ebrahim, is scheduled to co-chair the 9th SA – Cuba Joint Consultative Mechanism (JCM) Meeting to be held on 29 and 30 August 2011 in Cuba.

Deputy Minister Ebrahim will be accompanied by senior officials from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO).

The Joint Consultative Mechanism with Cuba convenes annually, co-chaired by the Deputy Minister of International Relations and Cooperation of South Africa and the Cuban First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. The forum was established in 2001 to strengthen the existing political bilateral relations and to further increase cooperation, particularly in the multilateral and regional spheres.

This year the meeting will be co-chaired by Deputy Minister Ebrahim and 1st Deputy Minister Marcelino Medina.

Since 1994, South Africa’s foreign policy has been largely successful in articulating a progressive agenda that promotes the values enshrined in the South African Constitution. The country has carved a space for itself as a voice of the developing world. To achieve its aims, South Africa has forged partnerships with various like-minded countries in the world, whilst grounding its foreign policy on a closer cooperation with countries of Southern Africa and the broader African continent.

In this regard, Cuba is an established strategic partner of South Africa in Latin America and the Caribbean. Both countries have utilised the JCM in a programmatic and systematic way to enhance the attainment of their respective foreign policy objectives.

Cuba is a member of different groups in Climate Change negotiations, i.e. the G77 and China, Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC), Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the Bolivarian Alliance of the Americas (ALBA) and it is an important ally of South Africa, especially as hosts of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP17) and Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP7) later this year in Durban.

For more information, please contact Mr Clayson Monyela, DIRCO's Spokesperson, on 082 806 7405.

Issued by the Department of International Relations
OR Tambo Building
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28 August 2011