"It is hoped that this discussion document will stimulate much more than discussion. There is an urgent need in the region for action. The world is at last realising that higher education is a vital component of both economic and social development. We, in SADC should respond with an agenda specifically designed to transform the relationship between governments; as the chief agents of development, anduniversities; as the guardians of a country’s intellectual and cultural capital, into firm and productive allies on the road to genuine human development."