Dr. Khabele Matlosa is a visiting Professor at the Centre for African Diplomacy and Leadership at the University of Johannesburg. He holds a Ph.D in Political Studies from the University of the Western Cape, South Africa; a Post-Graduate Diploma in Conflict Resolution from Uppsala University, Sweden; a Master’s degree in Development Studies from Leeds University, UK; a BA in Political Science and Public Administration from the National University of Lesotho (NUL).

He is the former Senior Governance Advisor at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is the former Director, Department of Political Affairs, African Union Commission (AUC), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (CSVR) based in Braamfontein, Johannesburg, South Africa.

He is the author of the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance which evolved between 2004 and 2006. This Charter was ultimately adopted by the African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on 30 January 2007. It came into force in 2012 following its ratification by 15 Member States of the AU. Working with two other African experts, he researched and co-authored the AU Panel of the Wise Report on “Election-Related Disputes and Political Violence: Strengthening the Role of the African Union in Preventing, Managing and Resolving Conflict”. This report was adopted by the AU in 2009. The report has informed and guided the AU Panel of the Wise in its preventive diplomacy interventions in crises situations in Africa, particularly those related to election-related conflicts. In 2021, he was commissioned as one of the 10 African experts to prepare a strategic reflection report for UNDP entitled “Re-Imagining Governance and Peacebuilding in Africa” meant to re-orient UNDP’s next strategic plan, 2023-2025.

He has researched and written widely on various governance, democracy, elections peace and development issues in Africa. His latest publications include “Electoral systems, party systems and coalitions: Lessons from Southern Africa”, in Booysen, S. ed. 2021. Marriages of Convenience: The Politics of coalitions in South Africa, Johannesburg: Mupungubwe Institutute for Strategic Reflection: Johannesburg, pp97-126 and “Governance in Africa: AU achievements, challenges and prospects’ in Okumu, W. and Atta-Asamoah, A. (ed). 2023. The Africa Union at 20: African perspectives on progress, challenges and prospects, Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies (ISS), pp158-186.

Presentations

Electoral System Design in the SADC Region with Special Focus on Inclusiveness By Khabele Matlosa

Political Party Financing in the SADC Region By Khabele Matlosa

Among the highlights of the Forum delegation engagements with partners was the meeting with the USAID at its headquarters in Washington DC on 8 March. The meeting was attended by a high-level delegation that included Kevin Gash, Legislative Strengthening Advisor; Kristine Herrmann-DeLuca, Head of the Democracy, Human Rights and Governance (DRG) Center; Mark Billera, Deputy Director DRG Center; and Caroline Hubbard, Senior Gender Advisor, among others. During the meeting it was recalled that USAID and SADC PF had a long partnership dating back to between 2000 and 2010 when the former commissioned a 10-yeear grant to support the Forum’s role in promoting democratic elections through election observation missions by male and female MPs from both ruling and opposition political parties. The collaboration contributed to various electoral reforms including the creation of independent election management bodies, the counting of votes and declaration of results at polling centres, introduction of continuous voter registration, among other international best practices.

The USAID commented the SADC PF for the visible leadership in promoting inclusive governance, democratic accountability, rule of law and human rights in the SADC region through the development of Model Laws and other normative standards for use by MPs and stakeholders in domesticating regional and international commitments.

The two organisations agreed on the need to consolidate their partnership by focusing on strengthening parliamentary capacity in advocating for democratic drive and ensuring that democracy delivers to citizens. Other areas of possible collaboration that were identified include health service delivery, management of transboundary waters, wildlife trafficking, debt crisis, enhancing public participation and curbing corruption, with the Model Law on Public Financial Management which SADC PF adopted in 2022, being singled out as a strategic tool for use in this regard.

During the engagement SADC PF took note of the policy shift by USAID towards bilateral approaches to allocating funding, as opposed to a regional approach as was previously the case. In this regard, it was agreed that USAID would facilitate engagement between SADC PF and the USAID national offices in the region as well as with its Regional Office in Pretoria, to explore funding opportunities. The engagement was successful in updating the USAID on the trailblazing work the SADC PF has been undertaking since the laps of the previous Project and in identifying areas of mutual interest the two entities could pursue.

STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF SADC-PF

END OF PROJECT MEETING – PARLIAMENT OF NAMIBIA

1^ST APRIL 2023 AT 9:30 HRS

“SETTING THE END OF PROJECT REVIEW AND DOCUMENTATION TONE”

STATEMENT BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF SADC-PF END OF PROJECT MEETING – PARLIAMENT OF NAMIBIA

CONCEPT NOTE : SEXUAL REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH AND RIGHTS (SRHR), HIV AND AIDS GOVERNANCE PROJECT - PHASE 2

Multi-stakeholder consultative workshop on the end of SRHR Project Performance   Review, 2019-2023

DATES: 31 March-02 April 2023

VENUE: Swakopmund Plaza Hotel

Multi-stakeholder consultative workshop on the end of SRHR Project Performance Review, 2019-2023

KEYNOTE SPEECH

ARASA SRHR REGIONAL SYMPOSIUM

RE-FLECT; RE-ENGAGE; RE-INTEGRATE

29^TH – 31^ST MARCH 2023

RADISSON HOTEL& CONVENTION CENTRE, JOHANNESBURG, OR TAMBO, SOUTH AFRICA

SECRETARY GENERAL - KEYNOTE SPEECH ARASA SRHR REGIONAL SYMPOSIUM RE-FLECT; RE-ENGAGE; RE-INTEGRATE