2015 - Year for Strengthening SADC Regional Integration 21 January 2015 , Source: SANF Harare The year 2015 promises to be an exciting period for southern Africa, with crucial regional processes expected to be concluded and deadlines for a number of important regional and global milestones beckoning during the next 12 months. Key highlights for the coming year include the convening of an Extraordinary Summit of Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders that will shape the integration agenda for the region. At the summit, discussions will focus on how the region could improve its industrial capacity as it aims to move away from an economic path built on consumption and commodity exports onto a sustainable developmental path based on value-addition and beneficiation. Industrial development has long been identified as one of the main drivers of regional integration in SADC as it promotes the diversification of economies, as well as the development of productive capacity and the creation of employment to reduce poverty. Therefore, the development of a SADC industrialisation policy framework is expected to enable the region to transform its economies from being raw resource-dependent to ones that enjoy beneficiated products that are technology driven, dynamic and diversified. Another key highlight of the Extraordinary SADC Summit should be the expected approval of the revised Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP). The 34th SADC Summit held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in August 2014 postponed the approval of the revised RISDP to allow synchronization of the four SADC regional integration pillars - industrial development and market integration; infrastructure development for regional integration; peace and security cooperation; and special programmes. The Summit felt that the implementation of the pillar on industrial development and market integration was skewed in favour of trade issues, with little progress made on the industrialisation component. The RISDP, which is a 15-year blueprint for SADC regional integration and development, has been under review since 2010 as part of efforts to align the regions development agenda in line with new realities and emerging global dynamics. With regard to gender equality, 2015 is the year the region has set as the deadline for the attainment of the target of equal representation of women and men in key decision-making positions in public and private sectors. Although significant progress has been made towards attainment of the target of 50:50 gender representation in decision-making positions, a lot more still needs to be done to ensure that this is achieved by the end of 2015. According to the SADC Gender Monitor 2013 produced by the Southern African Research and Documentation Centre for the SADC Gender Unit, only five SADC Member States were close to the target of parity in parliament by mid-2013, having gone above the 30-percent previous threshold set by regional leaders. These are Seychelles (43.8 percent), South Africa (42.3 percent), Mozambique (39.2 percent), Tanzania (36 percent), Angola (34.1 percent) and Zimbabwe (31.5 percent) who joined this list in the 31 July 2013 elections. A number of other SADC countries are below the 20 percent mark. The African Union has declared 2015 as the as the year of Womens Empowerment and Development Towards Africas Agenda 2063, to encourage countries to speed up the implementation of protocols and instruments aimed at promoting gender equality and parity. On the political scene, three countries - Zambia, Lesotho and the United Republic of Tanzania - will go to the polls during the year to elect new leaderships. Zambia will choose a new leader on 20 January following the death of President Michael Sata in October 2014. According to the Zambian Constitution, if the office of the President becomes vacant by reason of death or other reasons, an election shall be held within 90 days of the office becoming vacant. Acting President Guy Scott is constitutionally unable to
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 19:09:57 +0000
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