Johannesburg: The twelfth edition of the SADC Gender Protocol Barometer will be launched virtually on Monday 17 August 2020 during the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Civil Society Forum, which is also SADC day. The SADC Council of Non-Governmental Organisations (SADC-CNGO) coordinates the Civil Society Forum.

#VoiceandChoice in the time of COVID-19 has 11 chapters that include an overview chapter, seven chapters on Sexual Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR), an economic justice chapter, climate justice chapter and a governance chapter.

The Barometer, which, focuses on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on gender equality, will be the first edition to be launched virtually through the Southern Africa Gender Community due to the pandemic restrictions.

In August 2020, SADC accounted for 58% of the African and 3% of the global COVID-19 cases. South Africa, with 92% of all cases in the region and 53% of all cases in Africa, is the hardest hit SADC country.

The Barometer has been produced for the last twelve years by the Southern African Gender Protocol Alliance, a network of Women’s Rights Organisations that campaigned for the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development in 2008, its updating and alignment to the Sustainable Development Goals in 2016.

With a foreword by Dr Tlaleng Mofokeng, the 2020 #VoiceandChoice Barometer provides evidence of progress on the ground through empirical data, case studies and media stories. It also covers Comoros, SADC’s newest member state for the first time. The Barometer links the #VoiceandChoice Campaign in the time of COVID-19 to other gender equality campaigns such as the #MeToo, #TimesUp, #TotalShutdown, #FemaleLivesMatter and many other women’s rights campaigns.

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