The meeting of SADC Ministers responsible for Gender/ Women's Affairs was held in Harare, Zimbabwe, on 29 May 2015. The meeting was preceded by a meeting of Senior Officials from 27 - 28 May 2015.
The Executive Secretary of SADC, Dr Stergomena Lawrence Tax, attended the meeting of Senior Officials. The Acting Head of Gender Unit, Ms Elizabeth Kakukuru, read the Executive Secretary's statement during the Ministers meeting on 29 May.
The meeting came at a time when the 28 targets in the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development are due to lapse in 2015. The Ministers, at their meeting in Lilongwe, Malawi, in 2014, had recommended that the targets be reviewed in line with the relevant articles in the SADC Treaty.
"The review of targets in the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development is very critical", said Dr Tax in her statement, emphasising that the review should be aligned to the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, the African Union Agenda 2063 and other relevant regional, continental and international instruments.
The meeting, chaired by the Republic of Zimbabwe, was attended by 13 of the 16 Member States. It concluded with the Republic of Botswana, as the Incoming Chair, offering to host the next meeting in 2016.
