The Southern Africa Trust was established in 2005 to support civil society organisations in southern Africa to participate effectively and with credibility in policy dialogue so that the voices of the poor can have a better impact in the development of public policies

The Southern Africa Trust:

- is an independent, regional, non-profit agency registered in South Africa
- supports organisations and processes with regional impact
- supports deeper and wider engagement in policy dialogue
- supports public policy development to overcome poverty
- supports voices of the poor to be heard in policy dialogue

Strategy

The Southern Africa Trust does this directly and indirectly through:

Capacity Building – Improving the capacity of regional civil society organisations to play a more effective role in influencing policies to overcome poverty;

Policy Dialogue – Facilitating increased regional policy dialogue amongst civil society organisations, states, and the private sector, focused on overcoming poverty;

Evidence-Based Advocacy – Influencing aspects of the regional policy agenda in favour of evidence-backed policy objectives identified by poor and marginalised communities;

Creating an Enabling Environment – Promoting innovative practices and processes to build an enabling regional environment for engagement between civil society organisations, states, and the private sector; and

Grant-Making – Providing grants to civil society organisations representing the interests of the poor in regionally significant policy development processes

Programme Areas

The Southern Africa Trust has five programme areas and five strategies that contribute towards supporting deeper and wider civil society engagement in regional policy dialogue to overcome poverty in southern Africa. The programmes of the Trust are;

-Learning For Better Poverty Reduction Results
-Knowing Civil Society Organisations and Building Capability to Do Pro-Poor Policy Work
-Creating new opportunities for the voices of the poor to be heard in policy development
-Forging a Regional Identity through the Promotion of Civic Participation in Regional Integration
-More and Better Financial Flows to Civil Society Organisations

Who They Work With

The Southern Africa Trust works with diverse civil society organisations from southern Africa and beyond that promote public policy dialogue with a focus on poverty, especially those with a significant regional presence and impact. Partnerships with networks are of particular value to the Trust. For the Southern Africa Trust, civil society is understood broadly to include, for example, research institutes, NGO networks, faith-based organisations, the media, trade unions, popular organizations, private businesses, youth organisations and other forms of interest-based organisation in society. The Southern Africa Trust supports and develops networks amongst a wide range of role-players in civil society, representing different interests and constituencies that are focused on overcoming poverty. In addition, the Southern Africa Trust has strong collaborative relationships with governments and governmental and inter-governmental agencies in the national, regional, and global spheres.

They use a variety of mechanisms to establish formal partnerships, including open calls for grant proposals and soliciting proposals from particular organisations. However, at times, the Trust will independently undertake initiatives it considers to be strategically important to its mission.