Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa (OSISA)

The Southern African Development Community’s Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) is an inter-parliamentary institution. It shares all rights and privileges enjoyed by other institutions of the SADC.

The SADC PF was launched in July 1996 and was officially approved, in accordance with Article 9 (2) of the SADC Treaty, by the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government in Blantyre, Malawi, on 8th September 1997.

Apart from the SADC PF’s Democracy and Governance Programme, the organisation has four other programme areas, namely Parliamentary Capacity Development, Regional Development and Integration Programme, HIV/AIDS and Public Health Programme, Gender Equality and Empowerment Programme.

The Plenary Assembly of SADC PF is the highest policy making and deliberative organ where all the 15 national parliaments of SADC are represented. It meets twice a year to make policy decisions and recommendations to the SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government on various issues affecting the SADC region.

Each member parliament appoints a presiding officer and four representatives (MPs), reflecting the gender and political composition of the Parliament, in line with the constitution of the Forum.

The executive committee is the management board of the institution. The SADC-PF Secretariat is headed by a secretary general. The SADC PF has 29 established positions; 24 are currently filled and two of these are volunteers. From this total, 7 staff members are female.