The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Vision 2050 and Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) 2020-30, approved by Heads of State and Government at their 40th Summit in August 2020, envision a peaceful, inclusive, competitive middle to high income industrialised region, where all citizens enjoy sustainable economic well-being, justice and freedom.
The SADC Vision 2050 is premised on three interrelated pillars namely, Industrial Development and Market Integration, Infrastructure Development in Support of Regional Integration; and Social and Human Capital Development; and builds on a firm foundation of Peace, Security and Good Governance. This dovetails with the Support to Peace and Security in the SADC Region (SPSS) Programme launched in April last year to promote peace, security and democracy in the region.
The SPSS Programme is funded under the 11th European Development Fund (EDF) for a duration of three-and-half years to the tune of €15 million. The SPSS Programme builds on the gains made by the Regional Political Cooperation (RPC) programme launched in 2012 under the 10th EDF, which has contributed significantly to strengthening SADC's capacities to enhance democratic institutions, conflict prevention and management mechanisms.
The Programme is in line with the SADC vision and aspirations as outlined in the SADC Treaty, in particular Articles 4 and 5 which show that peace, security and governance issues are at the very core of SADC’s regional integration agenda.
Through SPSS programme, SADC with the support from the European Union, aims to strengthen the peace and security architecture in SADC by implementing the region’s peace and security objectives as outlined in the SADC Regional Strategic Indicative Plan 2020-2030, that operationalizes the Vision 2050.
This is expected to be achieved through the strengthening of the regional early warning systems as well as conflict prevention, management, and resolution mechanisms to enable the region to track and monitor political, security and socio-economic threats before they become serious problems.
Under Vision 2050, SADC Member States “commit to upholding the core principles of the Community, namely the sovereign equality of all Member States; solidarity, peace and security; human rights, democracy and the rule of law; equity, balance and mutual benefit; and the peaceful settlement of disputes. The Vision seeks the removal of all barriers to deeper regional integration, guided by the objectives and principles of the SADC Treaty and Common Agenda.
In building the foundation for Peace, Security and Democratic Governance, SADC envisions to remain a peaceful and stable region, which is seen as a necessary condition for ensuring the attainment of the objectives of socio-economic development, poverty eradication, and regional integration by 2050.
Under SADC regional cooperation, peace and security is divided into five sectors which are the Political, Defence, State Security, Public Security, and Police sectors.
