Arusha — PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan is today expected to open the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC PF) meeting.

The high profile gathering will feature speakers and legislators from SADC member countries.

SADC PF was established in 1997 in accordance with Article 9 (2) of the SADC Treaty as an autonomous institution of SADC.

It is a regional inter-parliamentary body composed of 15 parliaments representing over 3500 parliamentarians in the SADC region.

These member parliaments are Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The Forum seeks to bring regional experiences to bear at the national level, to promote best practices in the role of parliaments in regional cooperation and integration as outlined in the SADC Treaty and the Forum Constitution.

Its main aim is to provide a platform for parliaments and parliamentarians to promote and improve regional integration in the SADC region, through parliamentary involvement.

The objectives of the forum include promotion of human rights, gender equality, good governance, democracy and transparency; promotion of peace, security and stability; hastening the pace of economic cooperation, development and integration on the basis of equity and mutual benefits and facilitating networking with other inter-parliamentary organisations.

It also entails at promoting the participation of non-governmental organisations,

business and intellectual communities in SADC activities; familiarising the peoples of SADC with the aims and objectives of SADC; and informing SADC of the popular views on development and issues affecting the region.