Following the SADC Civil Society Forum that was held from the 14th-17th August 2016 at the Royal Swazi Spa Convention Center, the SADC Council of NGOs, Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa and the Southern Africa Trade Unions Coordinating Council, through its partnership with the Coordinating Assembly of NGOs in Swaziland (CANGO) as their local partner, issued the following Communiqué of the 12th Civil Society Regional Forum.

‘Citizens Rising – Reclaiming SADC for People’s Democracy’

The 12th Civil Society Forum (CSF) convened by the SADC Council of NGOs (SADC-CNGO), Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCCISA) and the Southern Africa Trade Unions Coordinating Council (SATUCC), gathered together more than 350 delegates from the 15 SADC countries, representing regional thematic networks and deliberated on progress made on the implementation of the resolutions of the 11th CSF and reflected on the key challenges facing the region.

The CSF determined and developed a clear action plan for a new path and strategies towards the realisation of people-centred development in Southern Africa, reclaiming our full citizenship, democratic dispensation and developmental priorities through:

1. Deepening civil society participation in Regional Integration;

2. Confronting the challenges and prospects for democratic governance in the post-liberation Southern Africa;

3. Considering reports from 15 Member States on social, political and economic conditions and the level of democracy in each of them;

4. Evaluating progress made by regional thematic networks and sectors in advancing the realisation of the SADC and Member States’ commitments, instruments and policies for regional integration;

5. Engaging in deeper analysis and targeted action planning, and strategic coordination in the five commissions on:

- Democratising our democracies;

- Inclusive and sustainable development;

- Human security and development;

- SADC/Civil society engagement mechanism;

- Strategies and tactics for social mobilisation and movement building;

Having observed the critical challenges in our region, arising from the weak implementation of the regional integration and development agenda, due largely to the absence of political will, the institutional misalignment of SADC and marginalisation of social partners in national and regional governance, determined an Action Plan, Strategies & Tactics to mobilise SADC citizens and civil society to reclaim our democracy and institutions of governance.

We resolve to implement this Action Plan and Strategies & Tactics in an accountable and transparent manner, consistent with the values and ethical leadership which informed our liberation and sustained civil society organisations as the agents of social and political transformation.