MISA participated in the SADC Non-State Actors Forum Engagement Meeting held on 11 and 12 August, 2024 in Harare.
The meeting sought to operationalise the SADC Non-State Actors Engagement Mechanism.
The meeting brought together the SADC Secretariat, the Southern African Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (SAf-CNGO), NGOs working in the region, and development partners.
MISA believes the forum is a crucial platform for the region, as it is a bridge between the SADC Member States and the region’s citizens.
It is worth noting that the forum prioritises learning from other regional institutions, such as the East African Civil Society Forum and the West African Civil Society Forum.
This is an acknowledgment of the importance of collaborations in building sustainable mechanisms on emerging issues.
In her keynote address, SADC Deputy Executive Secretary for Regional Integration Angela Makombe N’tumba stressed the importance of the forum, as it seeks to deal effectively with various challenges, such as climate change, quality of education, and inequality in the region.
She called for strengthened collaboration between SADC Member States, non-governmental organisations and the secretariat.
At the end of the two-day meeting, the Non-State Actors Forum launched an online registration and accreditation portal, which will be live soon.
MISA is part of the collective of regional civil society organisations that was co-convening the regional dialogue for non-state actors (NSAs) focused on the realisation of the SADC’s Vision 2050 and the regional bloc’s 10-year regional strategy – the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) from 2020 to 2030 – which envisions “a peaceful, inclusive, middle to high-income industrialised region, where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being, justice and freedom.
The operationalisation of the Non-State Actors mechanism is key in building pathways towards the achievement of the goal.
MISA Regional Communiqué
