Regional: Alliance Think tank meeting holds its inaugural meeting

The Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance Think Tank held its inaugural meeting facilitated by the Secretariat on the 5th April 2012 in Johannesburg. The Alliance nominated the members of the think tank during its annual meeting in August 2011 to assist the secretariat with the day to day running of the Alliance.

Several issues were discussed during the meeting including:
– Drawing up of terms of reference for the Think Tank.
– Review of the legal status of the Alliance based on a paper prepared by Matrine Bbuku Chuulu, regional coordinator of the lead organisation for the Constitutional and Legal Rights cluster – Women in Law Southern Africa.
– Planning for the Alliance annual meeting scheduled for August 2012.
– SWOT analysis of the Alliance.
– How the Think Tank can contribute to the 2012 SADC Gender Protocol Barometer

Key roles of the Alliance Think Tank will include debating on governance issues before they are tabled at the steering committee; assisting in strengthening Alliance national focal points; strategising for regional campaigns and programmes and strategic planning for the Alliance.The meeting agreed that the Think Tank will finalise the paper on the Alliance legal status discussion paper before being circulated to the steering committee ahead of the Alliance annual meeting.

One of the forward looking strategies is to think about beyond 2015 in line with the MDG debate. During an informal meeting with the Alliance Think Tank, one of the Gender Links’ board members, Pat Made raised the importance of tapping into the strategic advantage that the Alliance has of collective conscious movement building.

It is important that the Alliance consolidates its gains using initiatives begun such as identifying national gender champions for the 28 targets in each country; collective campaigns for example around electoral reform to incorporate 5050 quotas in countries undergoing constitutional or electoral systems reform. The Alliance needs to speak with one voice from national level building up to the regional level.