PREAMBLE WE, the Heads of State or Government of: The Republic of Angola The Republic of Botswana The Democratic Republic of Congo The Kingdom of Lesotho The Republic of Malawi The Republic of Mauritius The Republic of Mozambique The Republic of Namibia The Republic of Seychelles The Republic of South Africa The Kingdom of Swaziland The United Republic of Tanzania The Republic of Zambia The Republic of Zimbabwe RECOGNISING that the objectives of the Southern African Development Community are inter alia, to: (a) Promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socioeconomic development that will ensure poverty alleviation with ultimate objective of its eradication; (b) Combat HIV/AIDS and other deadly and communicable diseases; (c) Mainstream gender in the process of community and nation building;