Regional framework for gender mainstreaming adopted by SADC Heads of State in August 2008, entered into force in 2013, and revised in 2016 to align with the Sustainable Development Goals, AU Agenda 2063, and Beijing Platform for Action Plus 20 review. The Protocol defines gender mainstreaming as the process of identifying gender gaps and making women's, men's, girls' and boys' concerns and experiences integral to the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all spheres so that they benefit equally. Priority areas include: Gender Mainstreaming, Gender-based Violence, Women in Politics and Decision-making, and Women Economic Empowerment. In SADC's fundamental documents, gender is defined as one of the integration and development enablers and a cross-cutting intervention area requiring all directorates, units, and sectors to integrate gender issues. The SADC Groundwater Management Institute highlights rural women as unsung heroines and agents of transformative change in Southern African water management.