JOINT SITTING OF SADC PF STANDING COMMITTEES AND THE REGIONAL WOMEN’S PARLIAMENTARY CAUCUS ON 10^TH MAY 2023 AT RADISSON BLU OR TAMBO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT HOTEL

ACCELERATING THE DOMESTICATION & IMPLEMENTATION OF SADC MODEL LAWS ON CHILD MARRIAGE AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: GOOD PRACTICES, CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD

Remarks by Judy Gitau –Regional Coordinator, Africa Office  Equality Now Representing Faiza Mohamed Director Africa office.

OPENING REMARKS BY SG

JOINT SESSION OF STANDING COMMITTEES OF THE FORUM

“ACCELERATING THE DOMESTICATION & IMPLEMENTATION OF SADC MODEL LAWS ON CHILD MARRIAGE AND GENDER-BASED VIOLENCE: GOOD PRACTICES, CHALLENGES AND WAY FORWARD

10^TH MARCH 2023

Staff Writer

A meeting of the Model Laws Oversight Committee (RPMLOC) of the SADC Parliamentary Forum that took place in Johannesburg, South Africa on the 8^th of May 2023 called on SADC Member States to strengthen their electoral legal frameworks.

The meeting was held under the theme: Progress on the Domestication of the SADC Model Law on Elections: Using Electoral System Designing to Achieve Inclusive Governance, Specifically Women, Youth and Minority Groups Participation and Representation as well as Political Financing Regulation.

Eva Jhala was admitted to the Zambia Bar in 1979 and thereafter commenced her Public Service Career.  In 1987 she obtained her Master of Laws degree with Legislative Drafting from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland after having previously obtained a Senior Fellow Certificate in Legislative Drafting from the Legislative Drafting Institute of Canberra, Australia in 1981.  Between 1981 and 2012, she attended various specialist training Institutions that have enhanced her knowledge in governance matters (corporate and public governance, public administration and policy) and equipped her with problem solving and advisory capabilities covering a wide variety of subject areas, in the realm of public and private law.

CLOSING REMARKS BY HON. SHALLY JOSEPHA RAYMOND THE VICE CHAIRPERSON OF THE REGIONAL PARLIAMENTARY MODEL LAWS OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE (RPMLOC) ON THE OCCASION OF THE STATUTORY MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE HELD ON MONDAY 8TH MAY, 2023

• Honourable Members of Parliament
• Secretary General of the SADC Parliamentary Forum, Ms. Boemo Sekgoma
• Esteemed Presenter Dr. Khabele Matlosa
• Staff of the SADC Parliamentary Forum 
• Staff of National Parliaments 
• Distinguished Participants
• Ladies and Gentlemen

From the outset, allow me to pay particular tribute to the esteemed presenter for the well-researched, informative and timely presentations. Not only has he enlightened us about the recurrent and emerging challenges which continue to undermine the integrity and credibility of elections in our Region, but he has reminded us that all is not lost and that we can strengthen our electoral legal framework, systems and practices through the domestication our Model Law on Elections and implementation of the Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections and Norms and Standards for Elections. 

Dr. Khabele Matlosa is a visiting Professor at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg. He holds a Ph.D in Political Studies from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa; a Post-Graduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution from Uppsala University, Sweden; a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Leeds University, UK; a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the National University of Lesotho (NUL).

He is the former Senior Governance Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is the former Director, Department of Political Affairs, African Union Commission (AUC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) based in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa.

He is the author of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance which evolved between 2004 and 2006. This Charter was ultimately adopted by the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 30 January 2007. It came into force in 2012 following its ratification by 15 Member States of the AU. Working with two other African experts, he researched and co-authored the AU Panel of the Wise Report on “Election-Related Disputes and Political Violence: Strengthening the Role of the African Union in Preventing, Managing and Resolving Conflict”. This report was adopted by the AU in 2009. The report has informed and guided the AU Panel of the Wise in its preventive diplomacy interventions in crises situations in Africa, particularly those related to election-related conflicts. In 2021, he was commissioned as one of the 10 African experts to prepare a strategic reflection report for UNDP entitled “Re-Imagining Governance and Peacebuilding in Africa” meant to re-orient UNDP’s next strategic plan, 2023-2025.

He has researched and written widely on various governance, democracy, elections peace and development issues in Africa. His latest publications include “Electoral systems, party systems and coalitions: Lessons from Southern Africa”, in Booysen, S. ed. 2021. Marriages of Convenience: The Politics of coalitions in South Africa, Johannesburg: Mupungubwe Institutute for Strategic Reflection: Johannesburg, pp97-126 and “Governance in Africa: AU achievements, challenges and prospects’ in Okumu, W. and Atta-Asamoah, A. (ed). 2023. The Africa Union at 20: African perspectives on progress, challenges and prospects, Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies (ISS), pp158-186.

Presentations

Electoral System Design in the SADC Region with Special Focus on Inclusiveness By Khabele Matlosa

Political Party Financing in the SADC Region By Khabele Matlosa