Context
Countries in Southern Africa work together to drive economic growth and reduce poverty. While the 16 Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) commit to a common regional agenda and pledge national actions, notable gaps still remain. In particular, many Member States struggle to put agreements and laws into practice, track progress effectively, and explain the benefits of regional cooperation to the public. As a result, these challenges slow efforts to achieve shared development goals.
Objective
Member States of the SADC have improved the application of legal and strategic measures to sup-port regional integration.
Approach
The project supports SADC and its Member States in advancing regional integration through a demand-driven approach by:
• Improving how countries coordinate their regional integration efforts;
• Setting up systems to monitor progress and ensure countries implement SADCs legal and policy frameworks;
• Enhancing strategic communication to raise awareness and understanding of SADC’s objectives and activities;
• Promoting dialogue, research, and development of parliamentary institutions;
• Supporting civil society organisations to coordinate and unify their networks across Southern Africa, enabling them to participate in SADC policymaking and contribute to regional integration.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and co-funded by the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) and the European Union (EU).