Regional: Count down to the Alliance annual meeting to be held in August

The count-down begins to the Alliance annual meeting to be held in August in 2012 in Johannesburg. The meeting will take place from 14 – 15 August on the backdrop of the 8th Civil Society Forum and parallel to the Heads of State Summit to be held in Mozambique. Three think tank members will attend the Civil Society Forum and launch the Barometer on behalf of the Alliance and they will then provide feedback to the rest of the Steering committee.

The steering committee comprises the Alliance focal networks from the 15 SADC countries and all regional theme cluster leaders. Click here for the structure of the Alliance. A think tank was recently constituted at the 2011 annual meeting and held their first meeting in April 2012.

As per tradition, the Alliance will use the meeting to conduct its SWOT analysis and come up with a strategic plan for the coming year. A key issue that will come under discussion is the legal status of the Alliance where the steering committee will meet to debate a discussion paper prepared by Matrine Bbuku Chuulu with the assistance from the regional Alliance Secretariat. The Think Tank has met and given input to the paper that will soon be circulated in preparation for the meeting.

All Alliance steering committee members would have met in Mozambique ahead of the Civil Society Forum and attended the sessions but because Mozambique is a high cost country this will not be possible.