While commending the significant progress achieved on restructuring within SADC, leaders attending the Mauritius summit in August said they would want the process to move a gear up so that the agreed structures can deal more e ffectively with the challenges at hand.

The following milestones have been achieved:

• amendment of the Treaty and subsidiary instruments;
• development of a new formula for membership contribution;
• clustering of 21 sectors and the establishment of four directorates at the SADC Secretariat;
• creation of an Integrated Committee of Ministers and SADC National Committees;
• audit of SADC programmes/projects and assets;
• implementation and approval of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP); and
• completion of the job evaluation exercise.

  However there are still some outstanding tasks to be completed. These include:

• amendment of subsidiary instruments such as the protocols, memoranda of understanding (MOUs), agreements and charters;
• feasibility study on the Fisheries Agency;
• staff development and training;
• performance management;
• creation of a regional development fund; and
• long-term office accommodation needs.

  The next challenge and way forward for SADC is to implement the new structure and effectively conclude the transitional phase of restructuring through:

• strengthening of the Secretariat by provision of adequate resources to accelerate the appointment of directors, heads of units and senior officers within the next year;
• convening of regular meetings of the Troika to perform its duties as steering committee of SADC;
• strengthening and popularisation of SADC National Committees so that member states and stakeholders make effective use of them as institutions of SADC;
• efforts should be strengthened to establish the proposed SADC Development Fund;
• member states should at every meeting of Council submit reports on how they are implementing SADC Protocols.

“We are optimistic that the new SADC structure if given the appropriate human and financial resources will serve as a vehicle to enable us to begin in earnest, the journey from poverty and marginalisation to prosperity, enlightenment and the centre-stage in global economic and political affairs,” said Prega Ramsamy, Executive Secretary of SADC.

The launch of the RISDP has provided strategic direction to the organisation and seeks to operationalise the SADC Common Agenda towards poverty eradication.

The responsibility of operationalising the RISDP has been devolved to the national governments.

SADC National Committees will be responsible for information dissemination, implementation and monitoring of the RISDP at national level. They will also ensure broad and inclusive consultations at national level, which will feed into the inputs required by the secretariat.

At the SADC Secretariat level, business plans are being developed for launching at the Council of Ministers early next year.

The Integrated Committee of Ministers will exercise continuous oversight over the implementation process to ensure consistency of outputs with SADC’s vision, mission and agreed targets.

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