Ministers responsible for gender and women’s affairs in SADC to meet and review progress on Regional Gender and Development Programmes
The Ministers Responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Member States will be in Lilongwe, Republic of Malawi on 10 June 2022, to review progress on the implementation of the gender and development programmes in the region.
Honourable Patricia Kaliati, Minister of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare of the Republic of Malawi, will chair the meeting in her capacity as the Chairperson for SADC Ministers Responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs.
The Ministers will track the progress in implementation of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, through the review of the 2022 SADC Gender and Development Monitor on Women in Politics and Decision-making, focussing specifically on Article 12 on Representation, Article 13 on Participation, and Article 5 on Special Measures of the Protocol.
As part of implementing the SADC Regional Multi-dimensional Women Economic Empowerment Programme (RMD-WEEP) 2020-2030, the Ministers will review the progress on the SADC Industrialisation and Women’s Economic Empowerment Project (IWEE Project), a project aimed at increasing women-owned businesses’ and female entrepreneurs’ participation in value addition for selected sectors and regional
value chains (RVCs). In addition, the Ministers will review implementation of the SADC Strategy and Framework of Action for Addressing Gender-based Violence (GBV), including through the assessment of the status of GBV in the SADC Region.
The Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Gender and Women’s Affairs will be preceded by the Meeting of SADC Senior Officials for Gender and Women’s Affairs on the 7 to 8 June 2022.
SADC in Brief
SADC is an organisation of 16 Member States established in 1980 as the Southern African Development Coordinating Conference (SADCC) and later, in August,1992 transformed into the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The mission of SADC is to promote sustainable and equitable economic growth and socio-economic development through efficient, productive systems, deeper cooperation and integration, good governance and durable peace and security; so that the region emerges as a competitive and effective player in international relations and the world economy. Member States are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Source: Government of South Africa