The Roadmap to Equality: Southern Africa Gender and Development Protocol Barometer is a regional e-news- letter that tracks the ratification and implementation of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development. It is produced by Gender Links in partnership with the Southern Africa Gender Protocol Alliance and the Gender and Media Southern Africa (GEMSA) Network with support from DFID and UNIFEM.

The new and updated Barometer, previously the Gender Justice Barometer focuses on developments relating to the articles of the Protocol namely Constitutional and Legal Rights; Gender and Governance; Education and Training; Economic Justice; Gender Based Violence; Health; HIV and AIDS; Peace Building and Conflict Resolution; Media, Information and Communication and Integrated Approaches and Monitoring and Evaluation.

The Barometer is a tool for both state and non-state actors to monitor progress on whether governments are on the way to meeting the 28 targets to be achieved by 2015 set in the Gender Protocol and thus provides a road map for achieving gender equality in the region. It also provides a mechanism for gender and women's rights activists and governments track the impact of their work in order to measure whether or not they are making a difference.

The Barometer is therefore be used firstly, to track progress in advancing gender equality in the region and secondly to hold governments in Southern Africa accountable to the commitments they have made to address inequality through their obligations to international and regional instruments and in particular the SADC Gender Protocol.

Your input is welcome in order to reflect your views and remain relevant to the current context of women, men, girls and boys' lived realities. To contribute, please write to the editor: Loveness Jambaya Nyakujarah: alliance@genderlinks.org.za

To receive a copy of the e-newsletter please write to: progassistant@genderlinks.org.za