Staff Writer
SADC member states have reaffirmed their commitment to accelerating action on sexual and reproductive health, HIV and gender programmes following a high-level regional meeting held in Harare.
The five-day Southern African Development Community (SADC) Joint Regional Meeting of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), HIV and Gender Programme Managers and Monitoring and Evaluation/Health Information Systems (M&E/HIS) experts ended on Friday, with member states and development partners agreeing on a raft of measures to strengthen health systems and improve service delivery across the region.
The meeting brought together 145 representatives from 15 SADC member states, development partners and technical experts.
It was convened by the SADC Secretariat in partnership with the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and World Health Organization (WHO) under the 2gether 4 SRHR and RAISE SRHR initiatives.
Discussions centred on speeding up implementation of the SADC SRHR Strategy 2019-2030, strengthening accountability through reliable data and expanding access to quality, integrated SRHR, HIV and gender-based violence services.
Participants also placed emphasis on adolescent and youth sexual and reproductive health, while examining measures to build resilient health systems capable of responding to humanitarian crises, climate-related emergencies and other public health threats.
A major outcome of the meeting was the development of country roadmaps setting out national SRHR priorities and actions, providing a framework for member states to translate regional commitments into measurable interventions.
The meeting further validated the SADC Conceptual Framework for Investing in SRHR and Youth for the Demographic Dividend and agreed on a roadmap towards developing a regional framework on SRHR in humanitarian emergencies, including those arising from climate change.
The resolutions are expected to strengthen coordination among SADC member states and development partners while ensuring that evidence and reliable health data play a central role in shaping policies, programmes and investments.
The meeting also reaffirmed the region’s resolve to move beyond commitments and translate agreed strategies into practical action aimed at improving health outcomes, particularly for women, adolescents and young people.
The outcomes come as SADC continues efforts to implement its regional health priorities and strengthen health systems in the face of emerging public health, humanitarian and climate-related challenges.