Vice President Mutale Nalumango has called for stronger regional cooperation among Great Lakes countries to combat the illegal exploitation of minerals.
Mrs Nalumango has also urged Member States to curb the illegal cross-border trade in minerals while ensuring that natural resources contribute to peace, economic growth and sustainable development.
She said individual countries could not effectively address illegal mineral exploitation in isolation, stressing the need for coordinated regional action, information sharing and stronger implementation of agreed regional instruments.
Mrs Nalumango, who was represented by Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet for Finance and Economic Development Siazongo Siakalenge, was speaking during the official opening of the 10th Meeting of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) Council of Ministers Responsible for Mines in Lusaka today.
She said progress in implementing the six tools of the Regional Initiative on Natural Resources had remained uneven, with only five Member States having fully implemented the regional certification mechanism more than a decade after the adoption of the Lusaka Declaration in December 2010.
Mrs Nalumango said the situation highlighted the need for Member States to address persistent implementation challenges and strengthen accountability in the management of natural resources.
She said the meeting provided an opportunity for countries in the Great Lakes Region to renew their commitment to responsible mineral governance, regional economic cooperation, peace and stability.
The Vice President said the proposed inclusion of mineral value addition and cross-border trade in the revised Regional Initiative on Natural Resources would broaden the regional approach beyond mineral traceability and certification.
She said the move could help Member States derive greater economic benefits from their mineral wealth through investment, industrial development, employment creation and increased participation in mineral value chains.
Meanwhile, ICGLR Committee Chairperson Louis Kabamba has urged Member States to strengthen mineral traceability, information sharing and regional cooperation to curb conflicts linked to natural resources.
Mr Kabamba said Member States needed to translate their commitments into concrete action to ensure that minerals traded across borders were legally sourced.
And European Union Ambassador to Zambia Karolina Stasiak has called for stronger regional cooperation to combat the illegal exploitation and trafficking of mineral resources in the Great Lakes Region.
Ms Stasiak said illegal mineral activities deprived governments of public revenue and contributed to corruption, organised crime, human exploitation, environmental degradation and conflict.
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