Honourable Members, Ms Boemo Sekgoma- the SADC PF Secretary General, and the Secretariat, it’s a great honour for me to speak before you this morning.

Honourable Members, as you are aware one of the guiding principles of the SADC Parliamentary Forum is to promote a culture of human rights within SADC which includes the enjoyment of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) for all, without discrimination. On the strength of this mandate, the SADC-PF in collaboration with national parliaments is implementing   a 3-year Project on SRHR, HIV and AIDS Governance.

Honourable Members, the activity period for the Project is from 1^st July 2019 to 30^th June 2022, and 14 national parliaments are taking part in the implementation of the project.

Honourable Members, as you are aware, the HSDSP committee has a statutory mandate to oversee and provide leadership in the implementation of the project. It is against this background that this meeting has been organised so that the Members are updated on implementation processes of the project

Honourable Members, during this meeting, the committee will also consider its annual workplan for the year 2021, you are all therefore requested to have a look at it and make contributions on how best the workplan can be effectively implemented.

Honourable Members, without wasting much of your time, let me welcome you all to the meeting and wishing you fruitful deliberations.

Thank you all, Honourable Members