The Secretary General, Madam Boemo Sekgoma, led a SADC PF delegation to the 67^th Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW67) in New York, United States America, from 6 to 17 March 2023, comprising the Chairperson of the Human and Social Development and Special Programmes Standing Committee, Hon. Rose Bistoquet; Programme Manager Democracy, Governance and Human Rights, Sheuneni Kurasha; SRHR Project Accountant, Mahendrasing Khooblall; Finance Officer, Lorenda Boois; Personal Executive to the Secretary General, Agnes Lilungwe; and an officer Responsible for the SRHR & HIV/AIDS Project in the Parliament of Madagascar, Ida Raveloson Tchiourson. The CSW Session ran under the theme, 'Innovation and Technological Change, and Education in the Digital Age for Achieving Gender Equality and the Empowerment of All Women and Girls'.

The Secretary General and her delegation seized the opportunity of its presence in New York to visit SADC PF’s previous funders and partners to update them on the Forum’s current cutting-edge programmes that have continued to contribute towards democratic consolidation in Southern Africa.

The delegation travelled to Washington DC from 8 to 9 March 2023, where it met with various partners including the National Democratic Institute (NDI), US Department of State, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), National Endowment for Democracy (NED), African Center for Strategic Studies, and US Congress’ House Democracy Project (HDP).

The delegation returned to New York on 10 March and participated in several high-level main and side events hosted as part of the CSW67. The Secretary General attended and addressed various side events hosted by different partners including Pan African Parliament (PAP), International IDEA, and Governments of Democratic Republic of Congo and the Kingdom of Lesotho. The SG also had the opportunity to meet with Austrian Development Agency to discuss achievements made under the Project and on “Strengthening Parliamentary Capacity in the SADC region” which was implemented through GIZ SADC Regional Office since 2019 and was concluded in February 2023. More importantly, SADC PF and Austrian Development Agency (ADA) explored the possibility of continuing the partnership under a new project with increased funding levels from the Austrian government. The Secretary General’s delegation also paid a courtesy call on the Minister of Gender of the Republic of Malawi with whom the Forum had partnered to launch the SADC Model Law on Gender Based Violence alongside UN Agencies and Plan International.

“The Mission was a huge success in so far as it provided SADC PF with a strategic opportunity to show case at global level, the sterling work that Parliamentarians of the SADC region have been undertaking to promote human development, democratic accountability and human rights through the various Model Laws that SADC PF has pioneered in developing and in demonstrating in a very practical way, the centrality of Parliaments in supporting and sustaining democracy across the world. The Forum also engaged with various previous and potential funders and persuaded them to leverage the partnership matrix that allow for financial and technical collaboration in areas of mutual interest for the benefit of SADC citizens.” – Secretary General Sekgoma