The Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC) has been hailed for a sound record on some important milestones in different areas of regional cooperation and integration, especially when it comes to peace and security, infrastructure development, as well as trade and investment.

 Addressing delegates during the launch of the African Union-SADC National Committee yesterday, international relations minister Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah said this has been made possible through continental and inter-regional cooperation and integration. 
“The participation of our citizens in decision making, particularly women and youth, bring the regional process closer to people. Theory and practice continue to prove that such cooperation can positively contribute to capacity building, as well as infrastructure and economic development across countries and regions,” she noted. 

The AU-SADC National 
Committee was established by a Cabinet decision on 17 November 2020.  
The committee, which is made up of all line ministries, will ensure and enhance the implementation of AU and SADC decisions and programmes at the national level, thereby deriving maximum benefits from Namibia’s membership to both the AU and SADC, respectively.  
Nandi-Ndaitwah implored delegates in attendance to submit reports derived from the workshop to their various line ministries for review and implementation. 

The committee is also mandated to oversee the activities of the core areas of integration and monitoring, as well as control of the implementation of the continental and regional development programmes.  
As a building block of the AU, she said, member states are conscious of the fact that every success recorded in the various fields as a region contributes to the economic, political and social progress of the African continent.  Notwithstanding the region’s achievements, Nandi-Ndaitwah said member states still have a long way to go. 

In this regard, she stated the virtual 40th SADC summit adopted the SADC Vision 2050, which sets out the long-term development aspirations. 
The 40th SADC Summit also adopted the Regional Indicative Strategic Plan (RISDP) 2020- 2030, which has its basis in the Vision 2050 and outlines the envisioned ten-year development trajectory for the region. 

The SADC Vision 2050 is complementary to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, while the RISDP (2020-2030) mirrors aspects of the ten-year Implementation Plan of the AU (2014- 2023).