The primary goal of the Johannesburg seminar was to bring together a group of experts – policymakers, academics and civil society actors – to identify ways of strengthening SADC’s capacity to develop security and development initiatives for southern Africa. These experts discussed the security and development challenges facing the region, and considered integrated initiatives to strengthen conflict management and peace building efforts in southern Africa. The seminar generated policy proposals and tracked progress in the following five key areas: 1. Progress towards an integrated African peace architecture through the strengthening of inter agency collaboration; 2. The relationship between security and development in southern Africa through effective conflict
prevention and early warning mechanisms; 3. Women’s issues in the challenging context of security and development in southern Africa; 4. Experiences of peace building efforts in southern Africa and identifying lessons to be learned and incorporated into the work of the actors implementing these strategies; and 5. Strengthening SADC’s potential to engage effectively in peacekeeping operations in the region.
