SANF 17 no 23 – by Nyarai Kampilipili
Equality for both women and men continues to be a priority for southern Africa’s development agenda.
In fact, gender equality is firmly rooted in the Declaration and Treaty that established the shared community of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and member states fully realize that equality and empowerment of both women and men is crucial for the attainment of sustainable development.
To review progress made towards the promotion of gender development, SADC Gender and Women’s Affairs Ministers are meeting on 24-26 June in Ezulwini, the Kingdom of Swaziland.
According to draft agenda, the ministers will deliberate on a wide range of issues including the approval of the Regional Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Framework (MERF) for the Revised SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.
The revised protocol was approved by the 36th SADC Summit held in Swaziland in August 2016 and aims to align the protocol with provisions of other instruments such as those relating to the Susutanable Development Goals, Agenda 2063, and the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.
The MERF was developed by the SADC Secretariat to define a system to monitor, and report progress made by SADC Member States in the implementation of the commitments of the revised gender protocol.
According to the draft MERF, the proposed indicators are clear (precise and unambiguous), relevant (appropriate to the subject at hand), economic (available at reasonable cost), adequate (able to provide sufficient basis to assess performance), and monitorable (amenable to independent validation).
The MERF has been developed in line with the SADC Policy for Strategy Development and Monitoring and Evaluation which requires the SADC Secretariat to take initiatives to effectively monitor and also evaluate the implementation of protocols, declarations, MOUs and other regional policies related to specific sectors.
The MERF will be a driving force to motivate all Member States and the region as a whole to move towards agreed gender targets.
The framework enables Member States who often have different policies and indicators of performance to have a common denominator for assessment of progress.
Development of the MERF comes at a time when SADC Heads of State and Government approved and signed the draft Agreement Amending the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development which was revised to be aligned to international frameworks including the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2063.
So far, a total of nine countries namely Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mozambique, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe have signed the draft agreement.
The draft Agreement Amending the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development will only come into force once it is adopted by three quarters of the Member States that are Parties to the Protocol.
Tracking progress on implementation of the gender protocol remains essential to sustain gains made and keep the momentum towards addressing gender inequalities and imbalances that continue to suppress development in the region.
The SADC Secretariat through the SADC Gender Unit has monitored progress on the implementation of the SADC Declaration on Gender and Development now the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development since 1999.
The MERF is a revision of the Monitoring Tool for Reporting Progress on the implementation of the SADC gender protocol which was developed by the SADC Gender Unit after the adoption of the Protocol on Gender and Development in 2013.
The monitoring tool has been used by Member States to report on progress which has been produced through the SADC Gender and Development Monitor.
Another key issue for discussion by the SADC Gender and Women’s Affairs Minsters is the recent restructuring of the SADC Secretariat.
As part of the organisational review of the Secretariat, the Gender Unit has now been combined with the Directorate of Social and Human Development and Special Programmes to form the Directorate of Gender, Social and Human Development.
Previously, the Gender Unit was a standalone Unit which reported dirently to the SADC Executive Secretary.
Under the new setup, the directorate will report to the Deputy Executive Secretary Regional Integration.
At the meeting the ministers will also deliberate on the Women, Peace and Security Agenda and the SADC Regional Strategy on Women, Peace and Security (2018 – 2022).
The strategy is meant to ensure gender is mainstreamed into SADC’s peace and security mechanisms in order to address specific challenges faced by women and children.
Once the strategy is adopted by the ministers, it will be forwarded to the Ministerial Committee of the Organ (MCO) on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation for approval.
The SADC Gender and Women’s Affairs Minsters meet annually to review the regional gender programme.
The meeting presents an opportunity for Member States to share progress on the implementation of gender commitments.
The decisions of the Gender and Women’s Affairs Minsters will be forwarded to the SADC Council of Ministers for final approval at their next meeting ahead of the 37th SADC Heads of State and Government Summit scheduled for Pretoria, South Africa in August. sardc.net
