The Southern African
Regional Programme is a joint programme by the FES offices
in the SADC-Region under the guidance of the Africa Department
at FES headquarters. It includes the FES offices in Angola, Botswana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Regional activities
complement national programmes run by each FES country
office.
The FES Southern African Regional Programme was established
To support
the economic, political and social integration
of Southern African countries within the framework
of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) and
To provide regional platforms
for exchange of experience, knowledge-sharing, peer-learning
and standard-setting by key stakeholders and FES-partners.
Like the national programmes, the Southern African
Regional Programme deals with political, economic
and social issues linked to FES’ mission of deepening
democracy, promoting economic prosperity, improving
the social situation and supporting initiatives for
the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
On the political
level FES is mainly co-operating with
the SADC Organisation of
Public Accounts Committees (SADCOPAC), which
seeks to improve the standards of accountability
and parliamentary oversight within the region,
the Election Commissions Forum
(ECF),
which tries to improve standards for the conduct
of democratic elections in the region through exchange
of experience and peer-learning,
the SADC Gender
Unit, i.e. the structure at SADC headquarters in
charge of promoting gender equality within the region,
the Southern
African Defence and Security Management Network
(SADSEM), a
network of research institutions and researchers,
that is widely regarded as providing key inputs into
the efforts to promote regional peace and security
in Southern Africa, e.g. by providing expertise in
view of the promotion of democratic security governance
within the region,
the SADC Council of NGOs
(SADC CNGO), which lobbies for greater participation of
civil society in the SADC decision-making process.
On the economic level, FES in particular
has
worked with a network of economic research institutions and individual researchers in the SADC-region on
research looking into the impact of SADC Member States’
national macro-economic policies on deeper economic
integration in the light of the SADC criteria for
macroeconomic convergence,
organises the annual
“Southern African Forum on Trade” in conjunction
with the Institute
for Global Dialogue (IGD), as well as other regional
activities on trade and trade-related matters.
On the social
level, FES mainly
supports a SADC-wide network
of social security specialists, composed of academics
and government officials, which, since 2001, have
build a knowledge-base on social security issues
in the region and given advice to policy makers both
at SADC and national levels;
organises, already
since 1995, an annual “Regional Labour Symposium” on regional and international labour-related issues,
in partnership with the Southern African Trade
Union Co-ordinating Council (SATUCC).
For each of these
projects, a specific FES-office acts as responsible
‘lead office’ within the FES network and main interlocuteur
of our respective partners (e.g. FES Namibia is responsible
for the co-operation with Windhoek-based SADC-PF),
while all the offices, in one way or the other, participate
in the implementation of activities.
Privilege and poverty-the two faces of Namibian Society: Henning Melber
Challenging poverty: Calle Schlettwein Date:
Wednesday, 11 August 2010, 18h00
21st Public Dialogue: SADC Chairmanship & SADC Council Meeting in Namibia “How does this affect Namibia” Dates: 12 August 2010 Venue: Nampower Convention Centre Time: 8-10h30
The victim and her poverty: Tsitsi Dangarembga Date:
Wednesday, 18 August 2010, 18h00
Migration and informal housing-challenges for the City of Windhoek: Geraldine van Rooi
A place to live-challenging the City of Windhoek: Petrus Shaanika Date:
Wednesday, 25 August 2010, 18h00
The Grave Manager: Lucky Pieters, Keamogetsi J. Molapong Date: 8 - 10 August 2010 Venue: JMAC Gallery at the Katutura Community Centre Time: 19h00
Assessing the Performance if State Owned Enterprises in Namibia Date: 4th August 2010 Venue: Nampower Convention Centre Time: 08h00 - 10h00
President Pohamba receives new FES Resident Representative On 4 June H.E. Hifikepunye Pohamba, President of the Republic of Namibia received a FES delegation at State House. The FES delegation was comprised of Mr Hubert René Schillinger, outgoing FES Resident Representative, Mr Michael Schultheiss who will replace him as of 1 September, and Mr Rolf Paasch, Director of the FES Regional Media Project who will head the FES Namibia Office in an acting capacity as of 15 June. During the one-hour-meeting the Namibian Head of State and the FES delegation exchanged views on various political and other matters.
Book Launch with Prime Minister Angula As part of a function marking the 20th anniversary of FES presence in Namibia and the visit of the future FES representative to Namibia, a new FES-sponsored publication titled “Effective Communication” was launched by the Right Honorable Prime Minister of the Republic of Namibia, Mr Nahas Angula. The author, Mr Matthew //Gowaseb was recently appointed Acting Director-G eneral of the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). About one hundred invited guests attended the function at the FES office.
