Improving regional integration in Southern Africa

Project description

Title: Strengthening the National-Regional Linkages in SADC (SNRL)
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member States​​​​​​​
Lead executing agency: SADC Secretariat
Overall term: 2022 to 2025

Context

Economic growth and poverty eradication in Southern Africa can be best achieved by working together. To this end, the 16 Member States of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have developed a common Regional Agenda and, in the SADC Treaty, Member States have committed to specific national actions to achieve their common goals.

However, there still is a notable gap between Member States. This is caused by insufficient implementation of the legal and institutional framework in different Member States, a lack of usable monitoring and evaluation systems, and not enough public awareness of the benefits of regional integration. The project – funded by the German Government – supports the SADC Secretariat and Member States in improving institutional framework, monitoring and evaluation systems for the implementation of regional integration in Member States. It also supports an improvement in knowledge and awareness about SADC-related topics among the public in the SADC Region.

Objective

Implementing the legal and strategic SADC framework in the Member States has improved regional integration within SADC.

Approach

The project supports SADC and its Member States in advancing regional integration for the benefit of the populations in the SADC region. Applying a demand-driven approach, the programme provides technical support in:

  • Consolidating the operational and cooperation capabilities of SADC national coordination structures for regional integration.
  • Supporting measures towards establishing monitoring and evaluation systems for implementing the SADC Regional Integration Agenda. Functional monitoring systems in the Member States are conducive to implementing SADC strategies and increase compliance with legally binding instruments among the Member States.
  • Improving the strategic communication skills of SADC Secretariat and Member States to carry out high-profile communication on all aspects of SADC activities and results.

Last update: October 2022

Additional information