Background

The Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s 10-year regional strategy – the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020 to 2030, and SADC Vision 2050 – envision “a peaceful, inclusive, middle to high income industrialised region, where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being, justice and freedom.” The RISDP and Vision were adopted by the SADC Heads of State and Government Summit in August 2020, and the RISDP Implementation Plan, which sets out the agreed actions and their associated costs, is due to be approved by the SADC Council of Ministers in their next meeting (August 2022).

How the RISDP is articulated and supported in national policies, programmes and budgets will ultimately determine whether, and to what extent, its goals are realised. SADC Member States have a responsibility to define, establish and finance policies and programmes which prioritise and protect the most vulnerable and, ultimately, ensure all their people benefit from sustained social and economic well-being, justice and freedom. Critical to development across the region is the ability of governments to generate sufficient financial resources to meet their strategic goals, as well as the sound and socially accountable management and use of available resources. A well-functioning public resource management contributes to accountability and efficiency in the use of public resources, while a weak system can result in significant wastage of scarce resources. In Malawi, the SADC-RISDP was domesticated through the Malawi Agenda 2063 (MW2063) together with other regional, continental and multilateral agreements. The MW2063 is the guiding vision for the country up to 2063 and has got 3 Pillars (Agricultural Productivity and Commercialization, Industrialization, and Urbanization). The Mw2063 has 7 enablers: (Mindset Change, Effective Governance Systems and Institutions, Enhanced Public Sector Performance, Private Sector Dynamism, Human Capital Development, Economic Infrastructure, and Environmental Sustainability). One of the aspirations of MW2063 is to become an industrialized upper middle income by 2063.  In this case, SADC-RISDP and other frameworks are being implemented as part and parcel of the MW2063. To operationalize the MW2063, the country has developed the Ten-year Implementation Plan called the Malawi Implementation Plan (MIP) (2021-2030). One of the objectives of MIP1 is to help Malawi graduate to middle income status by 2030.

Malawi, including other Southern African countries are, however, facing enormous challenges in meeting SADC’s strategic goals articulated in the RISDP 2020 - 2030, as well as those contained in global and continental frameworks to which it is aligned – such as the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s (AU) Agenda 2063. Progress reports on the implementation of the AU’s Abuja and Malabo Declarations^[1], which commit African states to increased investment in health and agricultural development, reveal that few SADC Member States have met the minimum threshold required. These reports emphasize the need to increase accountability in the use of public funds, particularly through evidence-based planning, efficient implementation of programmes and eliminating the wastage of resources^[2]. The MIP1 (2021 – 2022) Annual Progress Report highlights progress achieved in the first year of implementation.  According to the report, despite a strong start on the policy front, Malawi’s performance towards the first-year targets has been slow, mainly due to both exogenous shocks and in general, the nation’s lack of urgency in executing the planned catalytic interventions. Some of the exogenous shocks highlighted include the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19), climate-related shocks, corruption and economic crimes and slow progress in executing catalytic interventions.

Recognising the importance of financial management in development, the SADC Parliamentary Forum (PF) recently approved a Model Law on Public Financial Management (PFM) in July 2022, which seeks to revitalise and modernise the PFM frameworks of SADC Member Parliaments at a time when accountability by the Executive in the management of public funds has become an issue of central public significance. SADC PF envisions that the model law will pave the way for a region that is financially transparent, accountable and efficient, with parliaments exercising adequate and timely oversight. To ensure social accountability in the roll-out of the RISDP, SADC and its Member States must ensure the people of the region are fully aware and involved in the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of associated national and local level initiatives.

A National Dialogue for Non-State Actors (NSAs)

In September, 2022 regional dialogue for non-state actors (NSAs) on the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Revised Regional Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) for 2020-2030 was held on 13 to 15 September 2022, under the theme of The SADC RISDP and Social Accountability in Public Resource Management, co-convened by Southern Africa Trust, Economic Justice Network (EJN) of the Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA), Southern African People’s Solidarity Network (SAPSN), Southern Africa Coordination Council (SATUCC), Gender Links, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and the Partnership for Social Accountability (PSA) Alliance (a consortium of ActionAid International (AAI), Public Service Accountability Monitor (PSAM) of Rhodes University, Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF) and SAfAIDS), and CARE International.

The following were some of the key recommendations that were developed during the third regional RISDP engagement for NSAs in September 2022.

• Urge SADC Member States to expedite the operationalization of the Regional Development Fund and the Agricultural Development Fund to ensure adequate support of the implementation of the RISDP, particularly towards support for the smallholder farmers and sustainable nutritious diversified food systems and SRH interventions for adolescents and young people.
• Call upon all SADC Member States to urgently establish SADC National Committees, where they do not currently exist, particularly in Tanzania and Zimbabwe, as mandated by the SADC Treaty.
• Urge existing SADC National Committees, particularly in Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, to further facilitate and support the full participation of NSAs, especially young people and women.
• Implore all SADC Member States to facilitate and broaden participation of NSAs, including by repealing all laws that threaten the existence of a diverse and pluralistic civil society, such as the Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Amendment Bill in Zimbabwe.
• Encourage SADC Member States to ensure NSAs can provide input into and easily access national-level planning and reporting information related to RISDP, including by providing information to the public through national SADC media coordinators.
• Remind SADC Member States to submit regular and timeous reports on their progress in implementing RISDP commitments and domesticating regional agreements.
• Recommend that all SADC Member States review their PFM laws and, if necessary, amend them to be in line with the SADC Model Law on PFM to improve management, transparency and accountability, and to prevent illicit financial flows.

Building on the 2022 event, national dialogue for NSAs will convene:

• A hybrid (in-person and virtual) dialogue on 28^th June 2023. While maintaining a focus on the implementation of the RISDP, the third dialogue will highlight the importance of socially accountable public resource management in SADC’s development. Participants will review progress on the implementation of the action plan and recommendations from the communiqué which were developed during the second regional dialogue meeting which was conducted from 13^th to 14^th September 2022.
• Additionally, participants discuss progress on the implementation of the AU’s Abuja and Malabo Declarations^[3], which commits Malawi and other African states to increased investment in health and agricultural development and identify any challenges hindering its progress (with a focus on PFM), as well as potential strategies for mobilising additional domestic resources for improvement of public service delivery with particular focus on the health and agricultural sectors and actions supportive of women and young people.

Objectives:

The overall objectives of the 2023 national dialogue are to support and convene spaces for NSAs to:

• Assess the implementation of the RISDP and identify the challenges hindering its progress, with a focus on the health and agricultural sectors in relation to the action plan and recommendations from the communiqué developed during the second regional dialogue event which was conducted from September 2022.
• Identify strategies the Malawi government can employ to mobilise more domestic resources to support gender-responsive public services, and ultimately, the implementation of the AU’s Abuja and Malabo Declarations.
• Engage the Malawi government on how gaps in socially accountable public resource management can be addressed to facilitate implementation of the RISDP, and ultimately, sustainable development in Malawi.

Date & Venue:

• National dialogue - The SADC RISDP & Social Accountability in Public Resource Management – June 2023 (Hybrid) – Lilongwe, Malawi.

Outputs

• Meeting report
• Action Plan

Participants

• Regional and national civil society organisations
• Regional and national smallholder farmers associations
• National level media
• SADC Secretariat
• SADC National Contact Points
• SADC Parliamentary Forum
• Parliament of Malawi

National Dialogue - Programme

^[1] Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods (2014); Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases (2001).

^[2] Abuja + 12: Shaping the Future of Health in Africa. UNAIDS. 15 July 2013. http://www.unaids.org/sites/default/files/media_asset/JC2524_Abuja_report_en_0.pdf;  Inaugural Biennial Review Report of the African Union Commission on the Implementation of the Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared prosperity and Improved Livelihoods. African Union Commission. January 2018. http://www.resakss.org/node/6501

^[3] Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods (2014); Abuja Declaration on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Other Related Infectious Diseases (2001).

Concept Note - The SADC RISDP & Social Accountability in Public Resource Management A National Dialogue for Non-State Actors – 28th June 2023