[{"bbox": [111, 77, 1145, 127], "category": "Text", "text": "in accessing Erasmus+ opportunities. This support will complement the efforts of the Erasmus+ National Focal Point."}, {"bbox": [111, 156, 1146, 343], "category": "Text", "text": "True to the MIP's ambition to put civil society (CS) at the centre of our programming, the action includes a grant to a SA based CSO with a regional remit. In complementarity to activities funded from a SADC perspective, both from the RIP as well as through other Development Partners (DPs), this grant will explore contributions to topics such as peace and security, border management, migration and climate action from a CS perspective. These and other issues are also pertinent for other actions in support of the Durban-Lusaka corridor which traverses four SADC countries. This grant will also help interrogate SA's relations as a regional hegemon and facilitate EU-SA discussions on global public good, ensuring strong civil society contributions."}, {"bbox": [111, 368, 1146, 473], "category": "Text", "text": "In line with the MIP, the proposed action contributes mainly to SDG 17 \"Partnerships for the Goals\" as well as SGDs 4, 16, and 5, \"Quality Education\" and \"Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions\" and \"Gender Equality\". Due to the demand-driven nature of the dialogues and research, other SDGs will be impacted as well, such as SDG 13 \"Climate Action\"."}, {"bbox": [114, 529, 353, 562], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 2 RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [100, 595, 249, 623], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.1 Context"}, {"bbox": [111, 641, 1146, 801], "category": "Text", "text": "South Africa is facing complex political & economic challenges. The triple burden of unemployment, inequality and poverty brought on by a deep legacy of segregationist policies and systems have ultimately culminated in the creation of one of the most unequal societies in the world with a Gini coefficient of 0.63¹. Delivery of basic services is uneven and, in specific areas, on a downward trajectory in terms of quantity and quality, eroding public confidence in government, triggering service delivery protests, affecting social cohesion and increasing the risks for instability."}, {"bbox": [111, 801, 1146, 960], "category": "Text", "text": "Politically and economically, the pace of implementation of much needed reforms is slow. President Ramaphosa continues to voice his commitment to tackle corruption, capacitate the public service, and provide an enabling environment for the private sector. The political outlook in the short term is dominated by the upcoming national conference of the governing party. The conference will elect the leadership of the party for the five years ahead and give an indication of the party's presidential candidate for the 2024 elections. Based on the outcome of the 2021 municipal elections, there is a possibility that there may be a coalition government at national level in 2024."}, {"bbox": [111, 985, 1146, 1040], "category": "Text", "text": "The South Africa AAP 2022 addresses all the three priorities areas of the MIP: a) a sustainable, resilient, transformative and inclusive growth, b) reducing inequalities and c) partnerships."}, {"bbox": [111, 1065, 1146, 1225], "category": "Text", "text": "Action #2 (Annex 2 to the Financing Decision) speaks to priority areas 1 and 2 of the MIP. It addresses inequality in service provision and contributes to the greening of infrastructure and service delivery. As such, it is to be seen as a contribution to the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and the commitments made by the EU and other DPs in the margins of the COP26. It is also well aligned with the EU's Gender Action Plan III and several of its thematic areas by promoting economic and social rights and empowering girls and women, and addressing the challenges and harnessing the opportunities offered by the green transition."}, {"bbox": [111, 1250, 1146, 1355], "category": "Text", "text": "The action at hand provides a broad framework for deepening and concretising the EU-SA Partnership, building on the success of components like the Dialogue Facility and SA-TIED, but expanding the scope of partnerships in line with the result areas of PA 3 of the MIP. Through dialogues and research, linkages with Action # 2 will be made."}, {"bbox": [111, 1383, 1146, 1517], "category": "Text", "text": "In a situation where Covid-19 as well as differing interpretations of the Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) have resulted in a decrease of the number of EU-SA high-level engagements and dialogues, and differences in the assessment of geopolitical issues have recently come to the fore in EU-SA relations. The proposed action makes the SP concrete, accessible and relatable at the level of institutions and individuals. Individual components will capitalise on areas of mutual interest and benefit and thus highlight the value of the SP at very concrete levels."}, {"bbox": [111, 1542, 1146, 1596], "category": "Text", "text": "The South African National Treasury faces increasingly difficult policy choices. A decade of stagnation has put a strain on the effort to tackle high levels unemployment, increasing levels of inequalities and growing poverty."}, {"bbox": [100, 1640, 784, 1667], "category": "Footnote", "text": "¹ https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/gini-coefficient-by-country"}, {"bbox": [1050, 1666, 1157, 1691], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 21"}]