Consequently, from the FLS initiative, the Southern African Development Coordination Conference (SADCC) was established in 1980 by nine states. In part, it was a political response to South Africa's Constellation of South African States (CONSAS) created in 1979 to attempt to entrench South African hegemony over the sub-region. SADCC was a more formal organisation than the FLS. Its key objective was to harmonise development among the countries of Southern Africa while supporting liberation struggles.