Deepening Integration in SADC - Fes-botswana.org

Constitution making, democratic elections, political party building
are some of the challenging tasks that pose a variety of problems in a
rather fragile and volatile transition. Good and prudent governance
becomes vital in addressing these problems in the interest of the longterm
consolidation of democracy and peace-building in the region.
Therefore, the new organisational chart for SADC, in the political and
social context, should also address all these problems
It becomes more and more obvious that a comprehensive peacebuilding
approach is needed, including, inter alia, issue of governance,
humanitarian aid, development co-operation and conflict resolution.
The personal and social conditions as well as other circumstances at
the roots of the conflicts, which could play a role in conflict deescalation,
have to be taken into account. Peace-building efforts have
to empower regional and local actors and have to be implemented as
early as possible in order to prevent violent conflict escalation, human
suffering, and expensive military operations and post-war
reconstruction. There is an increasing need for civilian experts who are
well prepared to implement peace-building activities.
Regional integration will result in an open regional markets that in
turn would provide more and better opportunities for producers and
consumers. However, strong and effective governance and regulatory
systems are the preconditions for balanced public and private sector
led economic initiatives
The effective application of political, social and other measures that
are necessary for SADC countries to build national consensus for EPAs
(assuming that the EPAs encompass a strong developmental component
and reflect the needs and aspirations of SADC countries) can be
addressed in the wider development framework aimed at providing
for:
An efficient institutional framework to drive the integration process
and measures for a development strategy that will benefit from the
EPA. This will include the creation of clear links between trade and
industrial development. For this to materialise, the Member States
will have to consolidate or put in place confidence building measures
that recognise various actors in political dialogue [state, non-state
namely: private sector], economic and social partners and civil society
organisations. Such measures will assist in propelling the investment
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