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Civil society organisations are coming together in Harare and online this week for the annual Non-State Actors Dialogue on the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan 2020-2030 (RISDP), on the sidelines of the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit. They will rally behind a call for stronger social accountability in public resource management, making the case that this will boost economic growth and sustainable development across the region.
The dialogue is being convened by a group of 16 regionally-focused organisations with an interest in making the RISDP work for the entire SADC region. Representatives from the SADC Secretariat, SADC Parliamentary Forum, and SADC national contact points will also join the discussion.
The event will interrogate the performance of the RISDP 2020-2030 four years into its implementation and provide insight and recommendations on how and where SADC and its member states can increase investment in human and social development while also ensuring the sound use of financial resources. The meeting will examine, in particular, the themes of climate change, health, education, agriculture, trade & investment, gender and youth. Additionally, the co-conveners will take stock of the achievements of the RISDP NSA Dialogues, reflect on current efforts to engage civil society in SADC processes and develop action plans to guide future national and regional activities.
Registration for the event is open, including for journalists, and you can sign up at https://bit.ly/DIALOGUE2024 You can also see the full concept note for the event here and the invitation here.
The co-conveners of the 2024 Dialogue are Southern Africa Trust, the Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA), Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN), Southern Africa Coordination Council (SATUCC), SADC Council of NGOs, Care International, Global Campaign for Education, Trust Africa, SADC Youth Forum (SAYoF), Agenda 2063 Media Network, GenderLinks, and the Partnership for Social Accountability (PSA) Alliance ((a consortium of ActionAid International (AAI), Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) of Rhodes University, Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF) and SAfAIDS)).
About the SADC RISDP 2020-2030: The RISDP covers key areas of regional integration: peace, security, and good governance (the foundation); industrial development and market integration (pillar I); infrastructure development in support of regional integration (pillar II); social and human capital development (pillar III); and cross-cutting issues of gender, youth, environment, climate change and disaster risk management. The full document is available at https://www.sadc.int/document/
