Dialogue support.

The EU-South Africa Dialogue Facility is a sequel to the TDCA-Facility. It aims at strengthening relations between the European Union and the South African Government.

The key target groups are various South African Government Departments and Provincial authorities, the EU, including the European Commission Directorates General, European Agencies, the EEAS, and EU Member States that are involved in areas of co-operation contained in the Strategic Partnership.


Capacity support

The Dialogue Facility supports capacity development for engaging in effective policy dialogue and leading to increased institutional capacity. Three services are provided:

  • High-level experts, both policy makers and implementers in specific areas of interest to the TDCA and the SPAP, undertake meetings and interviews with relevant SA officials and share experiences gained elsewhere that can benefit South Africa.
  • Workshops on dialogue transfer knowledge and target specific government departments that have explicitly requested support. Among the topics are determining dialogue requirements and outcomes, dialogue planning and budgeting, management of the dialogue process and monitoring and evaluation. Monthly workshops will start in August 2013.
  • Ongoing support is specifically offered by the Department of Science & Technology (DST) who provide advice and share first-hand experience on dialogues in the South Africa context with other departments.

Raising awareness

The Dialogue Facility strengthens awareness and understanding of the TDCA, Strategic Partner-ship Joint Action Plan and the EPA:

  • Missions to countries in the European Union
  • Research and studies on SA-EU relations
  • Facilitation of meetings and events
  • Lessons learned workshop
  • Lessons learned and best practice
  • Meetings, workshops and other information events
  • Publications & reports

  • a baseline survey of the target groups, to be repeated at programme mid-point (2013) and end (2015) ensures that appropriate and targeted information is provided and will evaluate the changing level of awareness and understanding amongst the target groups.
  • The Dialogue Facility team undertake missions to Brussels to develop dialogue relationships, strengthen ties and facilitate dialogue between the EU Directorates General and SA government departments.
  • The engagement of journalists and quality of reporting on SA/EU relations is being strengthened, while also encouraging government in South Africa to engage with the media in specific strategic areas. [Link to: DST as the lead government department with close cooperation with the EU Delegation will engage South African and international media in site visits to major R&D sites within South Africa to strengthen understanding of the S&T area of SA-EU cooperation. This project will take place in March 2013.
  • Lessons learned and best practice are being highlighted in a conference at the end of 2014, with South African, EU and global participants [Link to: Experts will analyse and synthesise lessons learned by the Dialogue Facility and similar programmes in other EU Strategic Partner countries. The outcomes of the workshop will be published as a handbook for future reference on best practice in dialogue processes. More info to be updated].
  • Breakfast meetings, workshops and other information events are held on a regular basis.

The Dialogue Facility produces publications and reports, background papers and terms of reference which emerge as elements of its dialoguing strategy. Some are listed under Resources; others appear under the specific dialogue areas. New meetings/events are announced in News.

Dialogue support.

The EU-South Africa Dialogue Facility is a sequel to the TDCA-Facility. It aims at strengthening relations between the European Union and the South African Government.
The key target groups are various South African Government Departments and Provincial authorities, the EU, including the European Commission Directorates General, European Agencies, the EEAS, and EU Member States that are involved in areas of co-operation contained in the Strategic Partnership.

It is designed to encourage and respond to requests, mainly from South African Government Departments, to develop and consolidate dialogues in areas of priority in line with the TDCA, the JAP and their possible successors. The project will contribute to operationalise priorities notably indicated in Joint Cooperation Council and Summit meetings and communiques. It is anticipated that, in addition to sectorial issues, some dialogues will include transversal elements such as youth, gender equality and women empowerment, and environmental issues.



Capacity support for dialogue.

The Dialogue Facility supports capacity development for engaging in effective policy dialogue and leading to increased institutional capacity. These include:

  • High-level experts, both policy makers and implementers in specific areas of interest to the TDCA and the SP-JAP, undertake meetings and interviews with relevant SA officials and share experiences gained elsewhere that can benefit South Africa.
  • Workshops on dialogue transfer knowledge and target specific government departments that have explicitly requested support. Among the topics are determining dialogue requirements and outcomes, dialogue planning and budgeting, management of the dialogue process and monitoring and evaluation.
Raising awareness and understanding.
The Dialogue Facility strengthens awareness and understanding of the TDCA, Strategic Partner-ship Joint Action Plan and the EPA:
  • Missions to countries in the European Union
  • Research and studies on SA-EU relations
  • Facilitation of meetings and events
  • Lessons learned workshop
  • Lessons learned and best practice
  • Meetings, workshops and other information events
  • Publications & reports
See Dialogues (Our Work) and Resources (Downloads) for examples of partnerships and content on areas of cooperation.