The Southern African Development Community (SADC) realised that Non-State Actors (NSAs), which include social movements, play a key role in carrying out the SADC Agenda, which is why they need to proactively create a way to engage with them. The same recognition is evident in the architecture of the Regional Indicative Strategic Development Plan, especially the revised version. Some SADC Protocols and Summit Communiqués also emphasise the need for a more profound and effective engagement mechanism.

Key protocols which provide for engagement with non-state actors include the Protocol on Trade in the SADC Region, SADC Protocol on Mining (1997) and the SADC Employment and Labour Protocol. Furthermore, SADC Council Decisions from the August 2004 Grand Baie Council Meeting in Mauritius, the September 2009 Kinshasa meeting in the DRC and the August 2011 Council Meeting in Angola underscore the need for more formalized and institutionalized engagement between SADC and Non-State Actors.

In 2018, the Southern Africa Trust published studies which clarify the relationship between the provisions and various decisions made by the SADC Summit, Council, and the Ministerial Committee of the Organs. The main objective of the studies was to assess SADC’s engagement with Non-State Actors in the areas of regional economic and political integration, and to propose options for more effective mechanisms that would ‘‘make SADC a more effective and efficient vehicle for Community Building’’ (SADC 2001).