Deepening Integration in SADC - Fes-botswana.org

and equitable socio-economic development, the ultimate goal under
the regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan (RISDP) is to deepen
the SADC integration agenda, with a view to accelerating the
eradication of poverty and achieving the other economic and social
development goals.
2.2 Economic and Social Development
S ADC is currently made up of fourteen countries that are in different
stages of development, but with predominantly underdeveloped
economies, except South Africa. As a result, there are wide social and
economic development asymmetries with some countries achieving
high growth rates and others extremely low economic growth rates.
Accelerating economic growth and development is necessary
throughout the SADC region. For example, on a GNP per capita basis,
two SADC members are ranked as the lowest in the world. Even in
areas where SADC countries have largely performed better than most
other African countries, which are still lagging behind especially those
without reasonable access to safe water, sanitation or health services.
The top priority is to ensure that the opportunities and benefits of
economic growth are distributed more equitably, with the larger share
given or allocated to the poor and especially women and children
who are the majority.
Without economic growth, however, there will be few benefits to
share. Without equity-led growth, poverty and the associated
environmental degradation will increase. Equity-led growth strategies,
which put and keep the focus of the development on the poor majority
of people and countries, are needed to accelerate the pace towards
sustainable development in the SADC region. By shifting the focus to
people rather than projects, equity-led growth shares many of the
goals and attributes of the sustainable human development approach
pioneered by UNDP as development for the people and by the people.
The three overall goals for sustainable development in the SADC
region are:
1. To accelerate economic growth with greater equity and self-reliance;
2. To improve the health, income and living conditions of the poor majority;
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