HARARE, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Zimbabwean media should take an editorial stance against the Western sanctions on Zimbabwe and help expose ways through which Zimbabweans have been affected by the embargo, a cabinet minister said Monday.

Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said it was time for Zimbabwean journalists to repel the propaganda from the West that seeks to divide and cause disunity among Zimbabweans.

The minister was speaking at the inaugural edition of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) anti-sanctions summit held in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, which brought together Zimbabweans and media players to discuss ways of ring-fencing the sector against the punitive effects of the more than two-decades-old sanctions.

"The media has a special role to inform and educate the nation on the misinformation and disinformation peddled by the West and its allies that these sanctions are targeted at a few individuals," Mutsvangwa said. "The media must unmask this big lie and expose the reality on the ground that the sanctions are choking. The lies are meant to turn us against each other and derail the development agenda."

The summit was held on the eve of the SADC anti-sanctions day held on Oct. 25 each year since 2020.

The anti-sanctions day was set aside by SADC for member states to stand in solidarity with Zimbabwe and collectively call for the unconditional lifting of the embargo imposed more than two decades ago.

Mutsvangwa applauded SADC for championing a collective resentment of the sanctions, and said Zimbabwe is grateful to the African Union and all countries that joined forces at the United Nations General Assembly in September "to crusade an anti-sanctions hymn condemning these unruly embargoes against Zimbabwe."

She suggested the summit should pronounce and reawaken solidarities for the creation of an anti-sanctions communication strategy. Enditem

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