The SADC Secondary School Essay Competition is open only to secondary school students from the SADC Member States; Angola, Botswana, Union of the Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The top three (3) prize winners will receive their prizes and certificates on the margins of the 41st SADC Summit of Heads of State and Government to be held in Lilongwe, Republic of Malawi in August 2021.
The SADC Secondary School Essay Competition was established in 1996 to recognise best students work in disseminating information on SADC to support the process of regional co-operation and integration in the region.