Public broadcasters hold a unique position to shape public discourse, influence social norms, and mobilise communities through storytelling and evidence-based content.

It is against this background that the United Nations and the Southern African Broadcasting Association (SABA) officially entered into a strategic partnership aimed at strengthening media collaboration across the SADC region. 

The two entities held a virtual signing ceremony on Tuesday.

The signing gives the UN-SABA Partnership full endorsement from Resident Coordinators and Directors-General of national broadcasters in five pilot countries in the SADC region.

The countries are Namibia, Eswatini, Lesotho, Zambia and Malawi.  

The partnership also represents a strategic milestone in advancing coordinated media collaboration across the region to accelerate progress on the SDGs, as it will allow the UN to leverage SABA's reach of 250 million viewers across 16 countries to amplify SDG messaging, foster public engagement, and catalyse action.

Namibia's UN Country Resident Hopolang Phororo also noted that the platform that the UN-SABA are creating will also help Namibia and other countries in addressing issues in education, gender equality and youth employment. 

During the pilot phase, the countries will make use of strategic, flexible, and locally driven approaches that will enable them to align activities with national priorities, the Pact for the Future implementation, and the Cooperation Framework. 

The SABA-UN partnership will also enhance the understanding of the monitoring and evaluation framework to track progress and measure impact effectively, while for Namibia, it will showcase the country's level of implementation to inspire replication and adaptation across the region.