Regional in focus and action-oriented, SARDC WIDSAA aims to be a catalyst and service to the region’s governments, NGOs and agencies, parliaments, the media and the public in formulation of policy affecting women. SARDC WIDSAA works with the SADC Gender Unit and a network of national partners in the 14 SADC member states, and with the SADC Parliamentary Forum on an integrated plan of activities including workshops, seminars and publications for Engendering SADC Parliaments, supported by USAID/Sida. With support from the Netherlands, WIDSAA has produced:

• 12 books profiling the status of women in most SADC member states, co-published with national partners; the books on Mozambique and Angola are in two languages;
• a regional book Beyond Inequalities: Women in Southern Africa in English, with a separate volume in Portuguese;
• SADC Gender Monitor: Monitoring Progress on the Beijing Commitments by SADC Member Countries, co-published 1999 with the SADC Secretariat’s Gender Unit; second edition March 2001;
• a regional information resource centre with bibliographic and contacts databases;
• a Tradewatch website for the region; and
• a number of information briefs and factsheets, a newsletter, The GAD Exchange; and is engaged in the Beijing +5 process leading up to 2005.