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Southern Africa

GPPAC members in Southern Africa have formed the Southern Africa Partnerships for the Prevention of Conflict (SAPPC), a regional network focused on conflict prevention, early warning, and peacebuilding. Through its network of civil society organisations, SAPPC supports coordinated, locally grounded regional and continentally connected approaches to peacebuilding.

SAPPC operates across all 16 Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states, bringing together a diverse network of civil society organisations, directly affected communities, governments and experts. With over 14 years of experience in conflict prevention and peacebuilding, and nearly a decade of work on regional and continental conflict early warning systems, SAPPC plays a key role in strengthening peace and security across the region.

Why our members’ work matters in Southern Africa

GPPAC Southern Africa members developed a first-ever civil-society-led Regional Early Warning System (SAPPC REWS) in partnership with the African Union and Regional Economic Bodies, SADC and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). It directly supports the African Union Continental Early Warning System (AU CEWS), Africa Reporter, SADC Early Warning Centre, COMESA GPS Early Warning and SADC Member State Governments.

Across the 16 SADC Member States, SAPPC’s CSO Early Warning network members monitor local and national conflicts, collecting and analysing data, feeding early warning alerts and conflict tracking updates to decision makers through the established national, regional and continental peace and security architectures. This uniquely enables SAPPC to innovatively bridge the gap between policy and practice, ensuring that directly affected communities' input and influence policy. This approach also facilitates localised conflict prevention and early response mechanisms using a human security lens for socio-economic development. SAPPC’s human security lens aims to protect the most vulnerable in communities, such as children, youth, women, minority groups and people with disabilities through evidence-based advocacy and by promoting accountability among decision-makers to existing policy frameworks, including Youth, Peace and Security and Women, Peace and Security National and Regional Action Plans, as well as the National Action Plan on Disability and National Disability Inclusion Strategy.

To strengthen its work on regional early warning, SAPPC invests in capacity building, training, and knowledge sharing across the region. This helps civil society organisations, community leaders, and institutions better understand and respond to conflict dynamics, while promoting sustainable peace and development.

Knowledge Products:

Selected publications from network members in Southern Africa include:

Highlights & results

SAPPC has established the first-ever CSO-led multi-hazard early warning system that works at a multi-track level from the community level to high-level policy and decision makers at the national and global levels.
SAPPC's Multi-Hazard Early Warning System directly supports the African Union Continental Early Warning System (AU CEWS), Africa Reporter, SADC Regional Early Warning Center and COMESA GPS Early Warning and 16 SADC Member States Governments.
SAPPCs Early Warning Reporters and Field Monitors are professional AU, SADC and United Nations trained data collectors, data analysts, researchers, peace builders and conflict prevention experts.
SAPPC bridges the gap between high-level policy decision makers and directly affected communities to ensure the affected communities' voices are heard and considered in the corridors of power to enable context-specific policies and action plans.

“It is important to be part of a global movement. It provides you with skills and competences through knowledge sharing with other members across the globe. It improves practice, as it helps you to think and act locally as well as globally.”

Rev. Sikhalo Cele

Ecumenical Church Leaders Forum (ECLF), Zimbabwe