STATEMENT: 58th Assembly Standing Committee Session, Johannesburg, South Africa

By - Southern Africa Youth News October 29, 2025

Issued on: 29 October 2025

The Southern Africa Youth Forum (SAYoF) is currently attending the 58^th Assembly Standing Committee Session convened by the SADC Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF), in Johannesburg, South Africa, running from 25 October to 01 November 2025. The SAYoF Delegation is led by the Honourable Boitumelo Princess Mojapelo, SADC Youth Parliament representative for South Africa, and deputized by Vivian Joseph, the Head of the SAYoF Health Cluster. The delegation is composed of other young leaders from other SADC countries.

SAYoF, represented by Dr. Vivian Joseph, presented during the Official Opening Ceremony and highlighted key issues on youth participation, inclusion, and development. SAYoF highlighted the way forward on its Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SADC-PF, the upcoming work on the operationalization of Youth Caucus within SADC-PF, the work on Tobacco Control, outcomes of the 7^th Southern Africa Youth Forum hosted in Madagascar, the ongoing partnership between SADC-PF and SAYoF, where SAYoF is capacitating Female members of parliament on Digital Technologies, AI, and social media. SAYoF also announced during the Opening Ceremony its new partnership with HIVOS “Accelerating Access to SRHR for All Ages in the SADC Region” and invited members of parliament to be advocates in their home parliament for effective laws and policies on SRHR.

During the Joint Session on 29 October, SAYoF, in partnership with HIVOS, Care, UNFPA, Plan International, Equality Now, and SADC-PF, is running a session titled “Accelerating Access to SRHR for All Ages in the SADC Region.” Hon Mujapelo will be on the Panel.

Kindly follow and check the following SAYoF social media handles and website for more information.