ABSTRACT
Introduction This chapter looks at the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR 1325) at the regional level by focusing on the achievement of UNSCR 1325 aspirations by the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Regional Economic Community of 14 Southern African states.1 Originally known as the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) the Declaration and Treaty establishing SADC which replaced the Co-ordination Conference was signed at the Summit of Heads of State or Government on 17 August 1992, in Windhoek, Namibia.2 The aim of SADC is to create a Community providing for regional peace and security, and an integrated regional economy. As a regional institution it laid the basis on which regional planning and development can be pursued in southern Africa. Furthermore, SADC forms one of the building blocks of the African Union (AU). Africa’s Regional Economic Communities or RECs, as they are now commonly known, were created with the aim of harmonising and strategising the achievement of development and economic integration for the region. They represent a critical pillar through which member states can be held to account for their international commitments and obligations such as those acquired through UNSCR 1325. This chapter will also look at the different means and ways SADC has used to advance the issue of gender equality in the region particularly in the area of peace and security. It examines what opportunities exist at the regional level to drive the UNSCR 1325 agenda and the constraints that exist at this level. It also looks at the relevance of SADC structures, policy instruments and mechanisms in terms of what they mean for the promotion of gender equality in southern Africa and for the implementation of UNSCR 1325 in particular.
