Online Reporter
Moses Magadza
The Standing Committee on Human and Social Development and Special Programmes of the SADC Parliamentary Forum began its two-day statutory meeting in Johannesburg on Thursday, with parliamentarians and experts seeking legislative solutions to barriers affecting adolescents’ access to sexual and reproductive health services and women’s access to safe, affordable menstrual products.
Running from 24 -25 September 2026, the meeting is being held under the theme: “Harnessing Human Capital in the SADC Region through Legislative Reform on the Age of Consent and a Market Approach to Menstrual Health Management.”
Members of the Standing Committee are attending alongside parliamentarians from SADC Member States and Kenya, SADC PF Secretariat staff, representatives of UNFPA and HIVOS, traditional and religious leaders, young people, healthcare and policy specialists, and other technical and development partners.
The meeting comes against the backdrop of a youthful regional population that could deliver significant economic and social benefits if adequately protected, educated and healthy.
An estimated 199 million young people live in the SADC region, with 40 percent of the population aged below 14 and 32 percent aged between 10 and 24.
However, high adolescent birth rates, new HIV infections, child marriage and deaths associated with sexual and reproductive health continue to undermine that potential.
The East and Southern Africa region records approximately 92 births per 1 000 girls aged between 15 and 19. It also experiences an estimated 160 000 new HIV infections among young people annually, with adolescent girls and young women three to four times more likely to acquire HIV than their male counterparts. Nearly one-third of young women in the region are affected by child marriage.
Central to the discussions is the lack of harmonised laws determining when adolescents may independently consent to medical treatment, contraception, HIV testing and other sexual and reproductive health services. Inconsistent thresholds governing consent to sex, marriage and healthcare frequently leave service providers uncertain about their legal obligations. Requirements for parental or guardian consent, together with mandatory reporting provisions, may also discourage adolescents from seeking confidential and time-sensitive care.
The Committee will consider how parliamentarians can review and harmonise legislation, remove inappropriate third-party consent barriers and ensure that age-of-consent provisions apply equally to boys and girls.
Members will also examine how legal uncertainty constrains ministries of health from budgeting for adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights programmes or accessing international financing.
A major anticipated outcome is the validation and adoption of the Reference Document for Parliamentarians on the Age of Consent.
The document is intended to guide national parliaments undertaking legislative reform and help align domestic laws with instruments such as the SADC Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Scorecard, the Maputo Protocol, the East and Southern Africa Commitment, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the African Union Demographic Dividend Roadmap.
The first day included presentations on adolescent sexual and reproductive health, HIV and child marriage by UNFPA’s Frankline Echerue; human capital development through an SRHR lens and regional policy alignment by the SADC Secretariat’s Dr Manasa Dzirikure and the legal complexities surrounding age-of-consent laws by UNFPA and Youth Advocates Executive Director Dr Tatenda Songore.
A multistakeholder panel brought practical perspectives from young people, healthcare professionals, government officials, religious leaders and traditional authorities. Among the scheduled contributors are His Royal Highness Chief Madzimawe of Zambia; Reverend Juru, a Zimbabwean religious leader and SRHR champion; youth advocate Lameck Muzangaza; Dr Nolwazi Dlamini of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Social Development; and Sipiwo Matshoba of South Africa’s Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities.
Dr Godfrey Kangaude, Executive Director of the Nyale Institute, will guide parliamentarians through the draft reference document ahead of its expected consideration and adoption.
On Friday, attention will turn to menstrual health management and the persistent market failures that place safe products beyond the reach of millions of women and girls.
The Committee will examine proposals to dismantle the so-called “period tax” by removing value-added tax, import tariffs, fees and levies not only from finished menstrual products, but also from raw materials and manufacturing machinery.
Discussions will explore lessons from Kenya, South Africa and Rwanda; the development of common safety and quality standards; participation in ISO Technical Committee 338; simplified trade procedures; and support for micro, small and medium enterprises producing disposable and reusable menstrual products.
Kenyan parliamentarians Beth Syengo and Umulkheir Kassim are expected to contribute to discussions on tax and trade reform alongside researchers, government representatives and menstrual health specialists.
The meeting is expected to produce a legislative roadmap for menstrual-product tax and trade reform, stronger parliamentary support for local manufacturing and sustainable innovation, and commitments to coordinated action among health, finance and trade ministries.
Through its combined focus on adolescent health legislation and menstrual health markets, the Committee seeks to affirm that protecting bodily autonomy, health and dignity is indispensable to developing the region’s human capital and realising its demographic dividend.
