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The
SADC Parliamentary Forum is an association of the 12 parliaments of the
SADC region established to spearhead the participation of parliaments in
regional integration and in contributing to a conducive environment for
peace, democratic governance, gender equity and the quest for human
rights.
The Forum was launched in 1996 and is recognized by SADC Heads
of State and Government as an autonomous institution in the Southern
African Development Community. The secretary-general is Dr Kasuka
Mutukwa, a former MP from Zambia, and the Forum has its
headquarters in Windhoek, Namibia.
Mutukwa says it was considered
imperative that the 1,800 MPs in SADC member countries should be
involved "as direct shareholders who can bring the benefits of
regional co-operation to their electorates." The Forum "fills
a major gap in
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the role of the legislative sector
in the provisions and operations of the SADC Treaty."
At a historic
assembly in April of 140 parliamentarians from SADC member states in
Cape Town, the Forum began to lay the groundwork for accelerating
the integration of decision-making structures in the region.
The
conference made commitments toward supporting democracy through election
observation, civic education and capacity-building for
parliamentarians on their role, responsibility and accountability
to the electorate and the relationship between the executive and
legislature.
The Forum was asked to promote programmes on harmonization
of SADC laws, to organize roundtable meetings on issues of regional
importance and to establish capacity-building mechanisms, including a
committee on SADC affairs in each member parliament.![[sq-bullet.jpg -- 744 bytes]](../v3-4-02-2000/sq-bullet.jpg)
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Emergence
and promotion of democratic practices
As a regional
organization, the Forum is mandated to contribute to the promotion of
multi-party elections in which all parties participate freely.
For that
reason, and in keeping with the SADC Treaty, the Forum has committed
itself to observe elections in member countries, and it has successfully
done this in Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.
"Through the
lessons learned, it is hoped that positive experiences, processes and
practices may be strengthened throughout the region and pitfalls
avoided.
The result will be the emergence and promotion of positive
democratic practices in the SADC region," said the Statement of the
SADC Parliamentary Forum Ob-server Delegation to the Zimbabwe 2000
Elections.
"The Forum believes that its ob-servers have a stake in
the elector-al processes
in SADC countries, as the
outcome thereof will invariably affect
other practices, security and stability
in the region. The Forum
therefore believes that it
has an important obligation of empowering the region with the capacity
to deal with issues pertaining to electoral systems and processes – so
that standards are not set by others."
This view was expressed also
by the head of an observer mission of South African parliamentarians,
Tony Yengeni, who said that decisions should be taken n
Africa and outsiders should first listen to what Africa has to say.
These and other observer missions from Africa, including the
Organization of African Unity, played a key role in assessing the
Zimbabwe electoral process. "
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Gender
equity issues occupy a central role in the Programme of Action of the
SADC Parliamentary Forum through its plans to:
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increase
the role of parliaments in monitoring implementation of the
gender policies and programmes of the executive branches of
government, enabling parliamentarians to exercise their
"oversight" functions;
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assess the
state of implementation of the Declaration on Gender and
Development adopted by the SADC Summit in Malawi in 1997;
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encourage
parliaments to promote gender equality using their role in
ratifying high level positions such as judgeships;
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mainstream
gender concerns in all its activities, including budget
committees in parliaments which could become more sensitive
to gender in the allocation of a country’s resources;
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empower
parliaments with the information necessary for addressing gender
issues and concerns;
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launch
a comprehensive programme entitled "Engendering
Parliaments" later this year;
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work
closely with the SADC secretariat and its gender coordination
unit, as well as non-governmental organizations, universities and
international agencies which promote gender and development
in the SADC region.
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support
the creation of a regional Women’s Parliamentary Caucus to
promote and consolidate the gender agenda in parliaments.
The constitution of the Forum provides that gender be one of the
factors for electing the three representatives from each member
parliament; and one of the Forum’s three standing committees,
established in December 1999, focuses on gender equity alongside
promoting the values of democratic governance. |
