SAFOD programme
Disability and gender mainstreaming: the SA-DGMP programme
Women and girls with disabilities face two layers of exclusion. SA-DGMP puts them at the centre as decision-makers, as beneficiaries, and as voices that shape what inclusion looks like in practice.
Disability and gender mainstreaming matters because women and girls with disabilities are excluded twice, once for their disability and once for their gender. The two layers of discrimination compound each other. A programme that tackles only one still leaves women and girls behind.
SA-DGMP is one of our programmes. It works with our national affiliates across the SADC region.
Focus areas for disability and gender mainstreaming
- Decision-making and voice.
- Social protection access.
- Economic empowerment.
- Health and SRHR rights.
Key activities
- Disability-Inclusive Disaster Risk Reduction (DiDRR) project. A three-year project funded by CBM and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ). It runs in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi with seven local partners. It builds OPD capacity on inclusive DRR and climate change adaptation. Gender and intersectionality are clear cross-cutting requirements in every activity. Read about the project.
- DiDRR Training of Trainers (2026). A regional training in Boksburg, South Africa, in March 2026. It equipped OPD representatives from Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana to promote inclusive early warning systems and disaster preparedness. Gender inclusion and disability-disaggregated data were core parts of the training.
- Inclusive Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) strategy. SAFOD drafted a Regional Inclusive ECDE Strategy Framework with TRANAC and the Africa Early Childhood Network (AfECN), funded by OSISA. It guides SADC member states and the SADC Secretariat on universal, equal access to inclusive early childhood services, with disability and gender mainstreaming at its core. Read about the campaign.
- Inclusive social protection research and guidelines. SAFOD commissioned a regional meta-analysis on inclusive social protection in Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. It also published the SAFOD Regional Guidelines on Inclusive Social Protection Mechanisms for Persons with Disabilities in Southern Africa (2025), developed with CBM and German Cooperation. Both place gender and intersectionality at the centre of disability-inclusive social protection. Download our publications.
What COVID-19 revealed
The pandemic deepened existing inequalities
- Persons with disabilities were among the hardest hit by the pandemic across the region.
- For women and girls, the impact was sharper. They faced greater exposure to gender-based violence.
- Access to health services fell further. Economic ground that was already hard-won was lost.
- SAFOD's COVID-19 research gave direct evidence to drive the SA-DGMP agenda. See our inclusive COVID-19 responses campaign.
Related work to disability and gender mainstreaming
SA-DGMP pushes for policies, programmes and budgets that see women and girls with disabilities, and act on what they see.