The courtesy call on the President of the National Democratic Institute (NDI), Dereck Mitchell, by the SG’s delegation resembled a reconnection between old allies as the two organisations went down the memory lane, recounting their long history of collaboration in strengthening the capacity of Parliaments in promoting democracy, election observation, and developing of the Model Law on HIV and AIDS in 2008, among others. In a clear demonstration of the strong ties between the two institutions, its was NDI that facilitated most of the SADC PF delegation’s meetings with US partners in Washington DC and also offered its office facilities for some of the delegation’s meetings with partners.

 

The two institutions reaffirmed their commitment to enhance collaboration in various areas of mutual interest, including in documenting achievements by women parliamentarians of the SADC region, strengthening public participation in governance through public hearings, strengthening accountability and curbing corruption, youth and e-governance and human rights promotion. 

The NDI expressed appreciation for having been invited to participate during the validation and pre-testing of SADC PF knowledge tools for Parliaments in curbing corruption and promoting human rights on 6 to 9 February 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa, where it was represented by its Deputy Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Gemima Barlow.