SADC has over the years recorded Institutional, Socio-Economic, and Peace and Security achievements and milestones. Some of the achievements and milestones are listed below:
- Deeper integration through the signature of 33 protocols as well as systematic strategic plans, which include the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan; Strategic Indicative Plan for the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation; SADC Industrialization Strategy and Roadmap (2015-2063); SADC Regional Agricultural Policy 2015; and SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan 2012. These have laid a strong legal, institutional and strategic foundation for advancing regional cooperation.
- The decision to frontload industrialisation is a major milestone taken following realisation that previous efforts to increase intra-regional trade were being hampered by the fact that there was little capacity in Member States to produce goods that can be traded competitively with and outside the region. This led to the adoption of the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap 2015-2063, which seeks to achieve major economic and technological transformation at national and regional levels to accelerate economic growth through industrial development. The Industrialisation Strategy has also recognised the private sector as a major player to SADC industrialisation and regional integration as a whole.
- The historic launch in 2008 of the SADC Free Trade Area, which saw a phased programme of tariff reductions by all Member States and resulted in more than 85 percent of intra-regional trade among Member States attaining zero duty status. This has been complemented by efforts by Member States to open up their borders to citizens of fellow Member States in the spirit of promoting the free movement of goods, and services, and facilitation of movement of persons within the Region
- The approval of the Financial Inclusion and SME Access to Finance Strategy and Implementation Strategy in 2018 has enhanced financial inclusion in Member States. Ten Member States have developed either financial inclusion strategies or a national roadmap on financial inclusion, and there has been an 8 percent improvement in financial inclusion among adults in the Region, which stands at 68 percent
- The SADC Real Time Gross Settlement System (RTGS) multi-currency platform went live in October 2018 to facilitate faster and more effective payment transactions in the Region. All Member States, except Comoros, are participating in the SADC-RTGS and a total of 85 banks (central banks and commercial banks) are also participating in the system. The SADC-RTGS has enabled Member States to settle payments among themselves in real time compared to previously when it used to take several days for banks to process cross border transactions.
- The SADC Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan (RIDMP) was approved in 2012 and was informed by the realisation that infrastructure development and maintenance is a priority for accelerated regional economic integration. In line with the RIDMP, the Region has also adopted the concept of One-Stop Border Posts, a key element of the corridor transport and logistics infrastructure programme, as a means to reduce transaction costs for crossing a border.
- SADC Member States have taken significant steps towards implementation of the wildlife protocol through developing Trans-Frontier Conservation Areas. There are 18 terrestrials and marine TFCAs in the region at different stages of development, including the Great Limpopo TransFrontier Park (GLTFP) established in 2002 by Mozambique, South Africa and Zimbabwe, and the Kavango–Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area (KAZA TFCA) established by Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2006.
- The adoption and institutionalisation of a standard, comprehensive package that addresses the unique challenges in providing equitable and effective HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights and provision of services to key and vulnerable populations within SADC has contributed greatly in curbing the spread and effects of HIV and AIDS.
- SADC Declaration on Gender and Development was approved during the 17th SADC Summit in Blantyre in August 1997 and acknowledges that gender equality is a fundamental human right and demands equal representation of women and men in decision-making structures at all levels as well as full access by women to, and control of, productive resources and formal employment.
- Promotion of Gender Equality and Equity continued through various legal instruments and programmes, including through the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development that was approved in 2008 and revised in 2016 to align it to the Post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals and Targets, the African Union Agenda 2063, the Beijing +20 Review Report, other global targets and address emerging issues. Following approval of the Gender Protocol, most Member States have undertaken comprehensive constitutional reviews and all Member States have specific provisions in constitutions and statutes that forbid discrimination on the basis of sex. Thirteen (13) Countries have Constitutional provisions that has a specific clause that promote gender equality. All the SADC Member States have national gender policies or strategies/action plans in place and some are in the process of reviewing their gender policies. Most Member States have made notable progress toward equal participation and representation of women in politics and decision-making.
- The establishment of strong regional mechanisms to facilitate deeper regional integration through institutions such as River Basin Organisations, Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), and the SADC Climate Services Centre
- To facilitate the faster implementation of programmes, SADC has established a number of Centres of Excellence (CoEs) and Centres of Specialisation (CoS) covering priority areas. CoEs include the SADC Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (SACREEE)). A number of frameworks and guidelines have also been approved for the establishment of CoEs and CoS in other thematic areas.
- The Regional Vulnerability Assessment and Analysis Programme was established in 1999 and is being implemented in 15 Member States. This has evolved to be one of the most reliable and robust early warning tools for agriculture as well as food and nutrition security interventions in the Region.
- The SADC Centre for Distance Education was established in 2005 as an Open and Distance Learning (ODL) Centre in partnership with Commonwealth of Learning to support the development, management and quality of ODL in the Region.
- Adoption of the Regional Water Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Flood Early Warning System in 2015 has contributed to improvements in climate and weather forecasting, whereby SADC established the Southern African Regional Climate Outlook Forum. The forum provides a platform for Member States to review the rainfall season in the region, as well as to discuss the potential impacts of the consensus seasonal climate outlook on other socio-economic sectors including disaster risk management, food security, health, water resources and hydropower management.
- Adoption of a SADC Regional Disaster Risk Management Strategy and Fund in 2017 has contributed to the enhancement of regional disaster management and responses capacity.
- Improved Transboundary Cooperation in Water and Other Natural Resources has improved transboundary management of resources, thereby reducing potential conflicts over shared resources. Examples of such cooperation include the establishment of River Basin Organisations and Transfrontier Conservation Areas across the Region.
- Through unwavering regional solidarity and unity among Member States, SADC has continued to speak with a common voice on continental and global issues. The Region has stood together in addressing challenges facing Member States. Evidence of this is seen in the regional interventions addressing the political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kingdom of Lesotho, and support for Western Sahara. The Region is currently seeking ways to address the insurgency situation in northern Mozambique.
- SADC was at the forefront of the global campaign to end apartheid in South Africa. The culmination of the regional pressure led to the collapse of the apartheid system and the independence of Namibia (1990) and South Africa (1994).
- The Organ for Politics, Defence and Security Co-operation was launched during an Extra-Ordinary Summit in Gaborone in June 1996 as a formal institution of SADC with the mandate to support the achievement and maintenance of security and the rule of law in the SADC Region.
- Establishment of the SADC Parliamentary Forum as an autonomous institution comprising all the national parliaments of Member States and seeking to promote dialogue and popular participation, particularly at the grass-root level, in the affairs of SADC. It is based in Windhoek, Namibia.
- SADC Region is one of the most stable and attractive Regional Economic Communities in Africa. SADC has handled some of the political and security challenges in Member States well and has been able to solve its own problems without much outside interference. As part of effort to ensure that the Region remains stable and peaceful, SADC developed viable instruments such as the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections in 2004 (revised in 2015) and joint operations through institutions such as the SADC Standby Force and the SADC Regional Peacekeeping Training Centre in 2003.
