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30^th PLENARY ASSEMBLY OF THE SADC PARLIAMENTARY FORUM, VICTORIA FALLS, ZIMBABWE 5^th - 12^th NOVEMBER, 2011

“PARLIAMENTARIANS AND THE MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS (MDGs)”

1. The 30^th SADC Parliamentary Forum Plenary Assembly was held in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe from the 5^th to the 12^th November 2011, under the theme “Parliamentarians and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”.

2. The 30^th Plenary Assembly was attended by eleven (11) Member Parliaments namely; Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Apologies from the Parliaments of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mauritius and Seychelles were duly noted.

3. The Deliberative Session of the Plenary Assembly was also attended by Dr William Shija, the Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), Mr Ola Pettersson, the Second Secretary for Democracy and Governance for the Swedish Embassy in Zambia, Mr Michael Schultheiss, the Resident Representative for Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Namibia Office as well as Mr Osten Chulu and Mr Dyfan Jones, both from UNDP.

4. In his welcoming remarks, the Secretary General, Dr. Esau Chiviya, highlighted that the SADC Parliamentary Forum is the voice of Parliamentarians in SADC which constitute a consultative forum for MPs to deliberate on issues of regional interest such as the theme for the 30^th Plenary Assembly, which is “Parliamentarians and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”.

5. Hon. Lovemore Moyo, MP, Chairperson of the SADC Parliamentary Forum and Speaker of the House of Assembly of Zimbabwe, officially opened the 30^th Plenary Assembly and welcomed the delegates to the tourist town of Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.

6. The Chairperson applauded the Government and people of Zambia for holding credible, free and fair Tripartite General Elections on the 20^th of September 2011 where there was peaceful transfer of power and expressed hope that such peaceful and democratic election processes will be replicated across the Region.

7. Noting the importance of Parliament in inclusive governance, Hon. Moyo underscored the need to respect the doctrine of separation of powers among the three Arms of the State in order to ensure checks and balances and also complementarity in the governance process.

8. Hon. Palesa Lebajoa, MP, Vice Chairperson of the SADC Parliamentary Forum’s Regional Women Parliamentary Caucus (RWPC), emphasized the need for Parliaments and Governments in SADC to prioritise the gender dimensions in the implementation of Millennium Development Goals through disaggregating data in order to clearly show the impact thereof on the livelihoods of women and girls who remain generally marginalised in the region.

9. The Plenary noted with great concern the declining number of women participating in and winning elections in SADC countries as amplified by the recent elections in countries such as Botswana (2009), Namibia (2009) and Zambia (2011), a clear reversal of the gains previously made in this respect

Accordingly, the Plenary called on stakeholders including Parliaments and political parties to put in place legislative and institutional mechanisms to ensure equitable representation of women in political and decision-making positions in line with the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development.

10. The Plenary appreciated the significant strides made by the Forum in advancing parliamentary engagement in critical issues such as democracy and governance, development and integration and human rights based laws and policies including on HIV/AIDS and parliamentary capacity development.

The Plenary reiterated the need to now establish a SADC Regional Parliament in order to take regional parliamentary engagement to another level. To this end, it adopted the Consolidated Document “Towards the Establishment of a SADC Parliament” as the basis for engagement with the SADC Summit and other stakeholders on this matter.

11. Recognising the central role of Parliamentarians in accelerating the attainment of MDGs, the Plenary called for the development of benchmarks at regional level to serve as a tool for monitoring progress on the implementation of the Goals. It also reiterated the need for National Parliaments and Parliamentarians to be champions of the MDGs since their attainment is directly linked to the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of the people.

Having duly noted the progress made by National Parliaments in monitoring the implementation of the MDGs by their countries, the Plenary implored National Parliaments to continue prioritising the MDGs in the performance of their roles.

In welcoming presentations by experts from UNDP, the Plenary Assembly called upon SADC PF Secretariat and the UNDP to increase collaboration in research on MDGs for the benefit of Parliamentarians.

12. The Plenary Assembly hailed the Official Launch of the Benchmarks for Democratic Legislatures in Southern Africa during the 30th Plenary Assembly, adding that this will go a long way in enhancing a standards-based approach in the implementation of ongoing Parliamentary Reforms in most of the Member Parliaments.

13. The Plenary welcomed and approved the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Framework developed for the Forum’s HIV/AIDS Programme as a tool that will ensure effective, evidence-based and timely Parliamentary reporting system.

14. The Plenary noted with concern the continued marginalisation of the youth and people with disabilities in most SADC countries and called for more to be done to give them platforms for meaningful participation in the economic and political development.

15. Pursuant to the Constitution of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, the Plenary approved the election of the Office Bearers for the various Standing Committees who will serve for the next two years.

16. The Plenary Assembly expressed its warm appreciation to the Parliament and the people of the Republic of Zimbabwe for the warm hospitality extended to all delegates during the 30^th Plenary Assembly.

17. The 31^st Plenary Assembly will be hosted by the National Assembly of Mozambique, at a date to be announced.

Done at Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

11^th November 2011

Previous Plenary Assembly Session

The Case for a SADC Parliament

On 8th September 1997, the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government “approved the establishment of the SADC Parliamentary Forum as an autonomous institution of SADC, in accordance with Article 9(2) of the Treaty Read More