SOUTHERN AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTRE
AND THE
SOUTHERN AFRICA YOUTH FORUM
SIGN COOPERATION AGREEMENT
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Cooperation on supporting youth participation and appreciation of regional processes through knowledge sharing and policy support for realizing maximum benefits of belonging to a shared community in Southern Africa
The Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) and the Southern Africa Youth Forum (SAYoF) are formalizing their partnership through signing an agreement on 29 July 2024 ahead of the 6th annual Southern Africa Youth Forum to be hosted in Harare from 10-13 August 2024.
The objective of the partnership is centred on enhancing youth participation in regional integration and development processes through knowledge sharing, policy support and capacity building among other means for realizing maximum benefits of belonging to a shared community in Southern Africa.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is intended to formalise their partnership, strengthening and deepening the areas of cooperation in the thematic areas of the institutes and clusters of SARDC and SAYoF respectively.
The partnership seeks to promote youth empowerment and participation in the implementation of regional strategic development plans and targets through knowledge-related regional processes, such as socio-economic, industrialisation, science and innovation trend analysis and monitoring based on accurate and reliable regional statistics and data profiles.
The parties will also collaborate on capacity building and raising awareness about regional policies among young people, with special focus on regional policy support for the youth parliamentarians. This encompasses capacity-building on regional policy and implementation of regional policies, and appreciation of these policies among the youth.
The SARDC is an independent regional knowledge resource centre established in 1985 to strengthen regional policy perspectives and track implementation on a range of issues in Southern Africa, and works in partnership at national and regional levels. SARDC has a long track record of achievements, in partnership with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and others.
SARDC`s work involves research and knowledge sharing, with a focus on research that informs development policy and monitors implementation, as well as capacity-building and training programmes.
This is implemented through specialist units at SARDC — the Regional Economic Development Institute (REDI), the I Musokotwane Environment Resource Centre for Southern Africa (IMERCSA), the Beyond Inequalities gender institute (BI), the Institute for China Africa Studies in Southern Africa (ICASSA), and History Today, as well as the specialist support services of financial services; facilities administration; ICT and web development; publishing; and a knowledge resource centre. www.sardc.net Knowledge for Development
SARDC has institutional experience in documenting, analysing and communicating trends in regional development, in publishing and distributing the results, and monitoring the impact, as well as recognized financial accountability, a range of qualified staff from the SADC region and an extensive network of partner organisations and contacts, and has language capacity to publish in the official SADC languages of English, Portuguese, and French, as well as access to KiSwahili.
SAYoF is a pan-African regional development platform for youth in Southern Africa, working with the SADC Parliamentary Forum, SADC Secretariat, SADC-CNGO, and other regional organizations to empower young people and ensure sustainable inclusion.
SAYoF is the official convener of the Southern Africa Youth Forum and SADC Youth Parliament, the largest youth gathering in Southern Africa to co-create solutions for youth and foster youth development.
SAYoF represents Africa in Civil Society Partnership for Effective Development Cooperation (CPDE) Youth Sector; sits in the Global Coalition for Youth, Peace, and Security, a UN-CSOs partnership to advance youth for peace; sits in the Dengue Advisory Group, Africa Focal Point in United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth (UNMGCY).
SAYoF was appointed by the African Union (AU) to the Africa Youth Front on Covid-19, a high-level policy and advocacy framework, and by the AU Youth Envoy for young people to co-lead Africa’s response to Covid-19.
SAYoF is the Secretariat for the African Youth Commission on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the Secretariat for the SADC Rare Disease Coalition, and sits in the Network for Religious and Traditional Peace Makers, Inclusive Based Community of Practice, International Steering Group.
The partnership between SARDC and SAYoF recognises that regional cooperation and integration in Southern Africa owes its origins to historical, economic, political, social and cultural factors that have created strong bonds of solidarity and unity among the peoples of the region, contributing to the formation of a distinct Southern African personality and identity that underpins political and economic cooperation.
The partnership will also promote youth empowerment in the region and encourage meaningful solidarity in tackling contemporary development challenges; and promote knowledge sharing and intercultural dialogue among the youth in a manner that strengthens and consolidates the historical, social and cultural affinities and linkages among the peoples of the region, through access to a key strategic resource – information. (sardc.net)
