Call for entries for the 2026 SADC Secondary School Essay Competition

The future prosperity of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region lies in the hands of young people. Following a Decision of the SADC Council of Ministers in Windhoek, Republic of Namibia in 2000, SADC introduced the annual SADC Secondary School Essay Competition.

The SADC Secondary School Essay Competition is open to all Secondary School learners in the SADC Member States. This competition aims to raise awareness among the youth to research and articulate issues to support the process of SADC regional cooperation, integration and socio-economic development.

The topic for the 2026 SADC Secondary School Essay competition is; “How can SADC achieve industrialisation, transform agriculture, and energy transition for a Resilient Future?”

The topic is derived from the theme of the 45th Ordinary SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government held in the Republic of Madagascar, Antananarivo on 17th August 2025, which is; “Advancing Industrialisation, Agricultural Transformation, and Energy Transition for a Resilient SADC”. The theme focused on accelerating regional integration through key pillars: strengthening industrial capacity and regional value chains, modernising agriculture, and promoting an inclusive energy transition, all aimed at building a resilient, sustainable, and cohesive SADC region.

Learners are required to submit their essays to their Ministries responsible for Education through their School head teachers. The Ministry responsible for Education selects the best three essay winners at national level to compete at regional level. 

Upon receipt of the three national winners from Member States, the SADC Secretariat invites three education experts from different SADC Member States on a rotational basis to adjudicate or mark the essays to select the three winning essays out of all the essays submitted from Member States.

The top three regional winners receive prizes as follows; The First Regional Winner gets a prize of US$1,500, the Second Winner gets US$1,000, and the Third Winner gets US$750 and Certificates.

To encourage learners who submit essays at national level, SADC awards three national winners as follows; Overall national winner gets US$500, the Second Winner gets a prize of US$300, and the Third Winner gets US$200. 

The SADC Secretariat is encouraging learners in the SADC Member States to enter the SADC Annual Secondary School Essay Competition. Parents, teachers and school authorities should encourage learners to be part of this regional competition so that our youth start to actively take part in the process of regional cooperation, integration and socio-economic development.

The docket with full information for the competition is attached below in three (3) SADC working languages.

Videos promoting the competition:

English - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJLRUxsWXyc

Portuguese - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYHVgYuVvH4

French - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeHp0DzZRD0

For more information about the SADC Secondary School Essay Competition, contact the SADC Secretariat by emailing: prinfo@sadc.int.