The Southern African Development Community (SADC) will convene a strategic ministerial retreat to review the regional body’s achievement since its establishment in 1980, its challenges, and what needs to be done to accelerate the pace and level of the SADC integration agenda.
The SADC ministerial retreat will be held from 12 to 14 March 2017 in the Kingdom of Swaziland, under the theme: “The SADC We Want”. Ministers responsible for issues related to regional integration will attend the retreat which will be held ahead of the SADC Council and Extraordinary Summit.
The ministers will among others, interrogate existing institutional arrangements to drive regional integration at both regional and national levels; elaborate the best options and possibilities for promoting regional development in Southern Africa; and explore alternative options of financial resources for implementing SADC programmes and projects.
The retreat will comprise a plenary session, where designated Ministers will provide an overview of the SADC Regional Integration Agenda.
This will be followed by analyses and presentations by resources persons who have been identified from distinguished scholars and development practitioners to further stimulate discussion around the following key topics:
- SADC Vision, Progress, Challenges and Prospects
- SADC Institutional Capacity to Deliver on its Mandate
- Sustainable Financing for Regional Integration
Key issues and recommendations of the ministerial retreat will be summarised and presented to SADC Council and Extraordinary Summit on the 15th and 18th March 2017, respectively for consideration.
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