Theme 1: Media Development and Information & Communication Technologies (ICTs)

 The Strategic Goal of the Media Development and ICTs programme is: Increased access to development information by the poor and marginalised communities in Southern Africa.

To achieve the above goal, the Media Development and ICTs will implement activities that promote a strong media and favourable information and communication environment which are critical to the development and prosperity of poor nations in Southern Africa, where the majority still live in poverty and have limited access to information or platforms for engagement. The programme will also promote fact checking and content verification to enhance information integrity and address information pollution. The specific objectives under this programme are as follows: 

i. To increase media coverage of diverse development issues in Southern Africa;

ii. To transform media into platforms for informed debate and discussion;

iii. To mainstream usage of ICTs and social media by all (media and readers/listeners;

iv. To increase access to information and platforms for communication and engagement by the poor and marginalized communities;

v. To promote information integrity and address information pollution online and offline.

Theme 2: Good Governance and Democracy

The goal of the Good Governance and Democracy programme is: To increase citizen participation in governance process for participatory development interventions.

 In line with the above goal, the Good Governance and Democracy Programme will focus on empowering the poor and marginalised or socially excluded communities in Southern Africa to play a key role in fostering good governance. The programme’s strategic response is premised on the fact that citizens demand for accountability from their duty-bearers on developmental and poverty reduction processes. Particular focus would be on addressing the lack of strong good governance systems in the region, which has an impact on processes of institutionalising democracy as well as facilitating citizen driven development. To this effect, the programme will promote citizen participation in electoral processes and equip the media with tools and skills to contribute to preventing and mitigating conflict. The Good Governance and Democracy programme’s specific objectives are as follows: 

i. To strengthen citizens’ demand for transparency and accountability in the management of public resources;

ii. To promote citizen’s participation in democratic processes;

iii. To promote citizen participation in advancing regional integration

Theme 3: Public Health

The strategic goal of the Public Health programme is: To advocate for equitable access to health services, and influence equity and accountability in the health delivery systems and programmes.

The programme interventions will be premised on the Sustainable Development Goals, No. 3: To ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages, and No. 5: To achieve gender equality and empower women and girls. The programme will contribute to the targets that include to reduce the global maternal and child mortality, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services. The programme will also endeavour to end all forms of discrimination, all forms of violence and harmful practices such as child marriage. The Public Health programme will address the following Strategic Objectives:

i. To promote community participation in improving health delivery systems in southern Africa by 2026.

ii. To ensure effective communication for equitable access to health care and services in Southern Africa by 2026.

• iii. To empower communities to promote healthy lifestyles in Southern Africa by 2026.
• iv. To enhance the capacity of media to report on health issues in Southern Africa by 2026.

Theme 4:  Climate Resilience and Sustainable Natural Resource Management

 The Climate Resilience and Sustainable Natural Resource Management Programme will work towards the goal: Promoting sustainable Climate Resilience and Sustainable Natural Resource Management practices and policies in Southern Africa.

The Programme will implement activities to enhance the climate resilience of poor and marginalised communities, as well as promoting sustainable responses to the management of the environment and natural resources. PSAf will spearhead advocacy and public awareness on climate change adaptation and mitigation, promoting public accountability in sectors like the extractive industries and the agriculture budget, and promoting community participation in sustainable responses to environmental challenges. The Programme’s specific objectives are:

i. To promote community participation in fostering sustainable and inclusive responses/interventions of environmental strategic issues (focus areas) in Southern Africa;

ii. To raise the profile of environmental Issues in Southern Africa in order to influence policy and programming responses

• iii. To empower communities to foster accountability and transparency in natural resources management issues especially extractive industries in Southern Africa

Theme 5: Management and Coordination

The Management and Coordination function of PSAf will focus on strengthening the institution as a regional leader in communication for development, to create an effective and efficient organisation with a high profile and dynamic regional office, country offices and country focal persons, vibrant corporate governance and management systems.  This component of PSAf’s programming will focus on strengthening the organisation’s programming and institutional systems, as well as building strong relations between PSAf and its strategic partners and stakeholders through implementing robust external communication and profiling and identifying new partners within the region.

 Theme 6: Inclusive Participation

All PSAf activities will seek to contribute towards the Goal of Progressive, equitable & rights based participation of poor and marginalised groups in driving development agenda. The cross-cutting issues of Human Rights, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion; Human Rights will be mainstreamed into all programmatic interventions. In implementing this strategic Plan, all programmatic interventions will seek to improve the participation of poor and marginalised communities in development processes, ensure gender equality in terms of beneficiaries and in terms of access to and control of resources provided by PSAf, and that all activities respond to and address specific human rights.