LUSAKA, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame will launch the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Sub-Regional Center for southern Africa this week, a government official said on Monday.
Alexander Chiteme, minister of National Development Planning, said the two leaders will launch the center on Wednesday in Lusaka, the Zambian capital.
The launch will bring together over 200 government officials, international organizations, development financing institutions and experts to discuss issues concerning implementing SDGs in southern Africa, he added.
The launch follows the signing of a country agreement in September 2018 between the Zambian government and the SDG Center for Africa.
"The SDG Sub-regional Center is an international not-for-profit institution, which, once launched, will provide technical support, neutral advice and expertise to national governments, private sector, civil society and academic institutions in order to accelerate the implementation of the SDG agenda," he said in a release.
The sub-regional center, he said, will assist southern African countries to unlock bottlenecks that hinder the smooth implementation of the SDGs and help achieve the goals.
