dyton mupawaenda
Ivan Zhakata–Herald Correspondent
The Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) and the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) have signed a memorandum of understanding to collaborate in supporting the implementation of SADC regional programmes.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday by SARDC executive director Mr Munetsi Madakufamba and SADC PF secretary-general Ms Boemo Sekgoma on the sidelines of the 26th SARDC board meeting held in the Namibian capital Windhoek on Monday and Tuesday.
Mr Madakufamba said the formalisation of the already long-standing cooperation between SARDC and SADC PF was crucial in assisting the SADC member states with implementation of decisions made by the SADC Summits and other regional structures.
“There are lot of policies that have been put in place. We are talking about no less than 30 SADC protocols that have been adopted in various areas and parliaments play an important role in making sure that those protocols are aligned with national policies and laws,” Mr Madakufamba said.
“As the SARDC, we package these policies in a manner that can be understood by the broader public and, in the process, make it easier for member states to identify areas that require action on their part.”
The work of the two organisations is complementary in that while SADC PF is the regional body tasked with ensuring broader citizen participation in regional affairs and facilitating that regional protocols are ratified and domesticated into national legislation, SARDC has more than 35 years of experience in research and policy analysis that informs the public side of regional development.
Ms Sekgoma said the agreement would go a long way in assisting SADC PF with documenting and profiling the role of parliaments in SADC regional integration processes, as well as in documenting citizen engagement processes of participatory democracy.
“We have been having these public hearings with no insightful documentation on the various regions of SADC,” Ms Sekgoma said.
This lack of documentation has resulted in gaps in knowledge about how, for instance, regional integration issues are perceived in countries and the regions of SADC such as in Lusophone member states.
SARDC board chairperson Professor Peter Katjavivi described the agreement as the beginning of “an exciting journey of partners as we pursue the agenda for development of our region.”
“We are embarking upon something very exciting. It’s a journey of partnership between the work that we do as a regional research body or think tank and working with you as leaders of our various national parliaments, coordinated by you at the secretariat level,” he said.
The agreement comes at a time the forum is in the process of being transformed into the SADC Regional Parliament following the approval, by the 41st SADC Summit held in Malawi in August 2021, of a proposal to transform.
Online Reporter