Two senior officers presently staff the unit. The main function of the unit is to advise the executive secretary on gender issues, and work with other officers in the SADC Secretariat to ensure that a gender perspective permeates the entire SADC Programme of Action and Community Building Initiative.

The process of putting into place a policy and institutional framework for gender in SADC can be traced to 1990, when the SADC Council of Ministers mandated the SADC Secretariat to explore best ways to incorporate gender issues in the SADC Programme of Work. Since then, a number of important milestones leading to the establishment of the Gender Unit have taken place.

At its meeting in Maseru in August 1996, council noted the report of the conference on Social Development in the SADC Region and approved that gender issues at the regional level should be co-ordinated by the secretariat.

During preparations for the Fourth UN World Conference on Women held in Beijing in 1995, women from National Machineries, NGOs and other stakeholders in gender in SADC member states consolidated their networks. Following the conference, they established a Regional Advisory Committee and its executive body, the Senior Management Committee.

The Advisory Committee is composed of two representatives from each member state, one from Government and the other from the NGO sector. The Management Committee consists of three member states, with one as the focal point.

First, a Standing Committee of Ministers responsible for Gender Affairs in the region is established.

Secondly, it adopts the existing Advisory Committee, which consist of one government and one NGO representative from each SADC member state, whose task is to advise the Standing Committee of Ministers, and other Sectoral Committees of Ministers on gender issues.

Thirdly, Gender Focal Points at sectoral level are established whose task would be to ensure that gender is taken into account in all sectoral initiatives, and is placed on the agenda of ministerial meetings.

Finally the framework establishes a Gender Unit in the SADC Secretariat consisting of two senior officers.

• A recognition that violence against women and children is a violation of fundamental human rights;
• An identification of the various forms of violence against women and children in SADC; and
• A concern that the various forms of violence against women and children in SADC continue to increase, and a recognition that existing measures are inadequate.

The Plan was approved by the SADC Ministers Responsible for Gender/Women's Affairs and the Council of Ministers in July and September 1998 respectively. The overall goal of the plan is to provide the tools for the achievement of gender equality through the empowerment of women in SADC region, and the mainstreaming of gender into the SADC Programme of Action and Community Building Initiative.

The principal objectives of the plan are to:

• ensure the development of policy and institutional framework for gender mainstreaming in the policies, programmes and activities of all SADC Member States, in its programme of action;
• cultivate and promote a culture of equality between men and women in SADC, respect for human rights of women , and the elimination of violence against women;
• facilitate the achievement of gender equality in access to economic structures and control of resources in the SADC region;
• promote equality between women and men in the sharing of power and ensure the achievement of at least 30% female representation in decision-making structures by year 2005;
• monitor and evaluate the implementation of the 1997 SADC Declaration on Gender and Development, and Gender Programme of Action; and
• facilitate the promotion of peace and stability in the SADC region and evaluate the impact of war and conflict on the social, economic and psychological development of women and children.

• Capacity Building and Training
• Policy Development
• Lobbying and Advocacy
• Networking
• Research and Information Management
• Monitoring and Evaluation
• Programmes and Projects