On 28 and 29 April 2026, the Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) brought together implementing partners, government representatives, and donor representatives at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the Regional All-Partners Project Meeting. The two-day meeting reviewed the technical and financial performance of the four-month extension of the CBM-funded project, Enhancing Disability-Inclusive DRR Capacities and Strengthening Resilience Against Climate-Related Disasters in the Southeast Africa Region.
The meeting also set the strategic direction for scale-up and long-term sustainability. It drew participants from SAFOD, ADRA Zambia, REPSSI Zimbabwe, ZAFOD, FODPZ, CBM, and government disaster management actors from Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Why This Project Matters
Southern Africa is experiencing more frequent and more severe climate-related hazards. Droughts, floods, and cyclones are becoming routine, not exceptional. These events do not affect all people equally.
Persons with disabilities face a disproportionate risk of death and injury in disasters. Structural barriers, inaccessible early warning systems, and limited participation in disaster planning all compound their vulnerability. Despite the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction explicitly calling for inclusion, disability considerations remain poorly integrated into most disaster risk reduction (DRR) systems across the region.
The DiDRR project was designed to address this gap directly. Its goal is to reduce the elevated risk faced by persons with disabilities in climate-related disasters by strengthening inclusive disaster risk reduction processes and supporting organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) to become effective actors in disaster governance systems.
What the Meeting Set Out to Achieve
The meeting had a clear, three-part objective. First, to critically review technical and financial performance during the four-month project extension. Second, to identify key implementation challenges and distil lessons learned. Third, to build a shared strategic foundation for scaling up and sustaining the project’s impact.
Opening remarks were delivered by Mr Misheck Mutamba of ZAFOD, followed by a statement on meeting objectives from Ms Ashllah Mmusi, SAFOD Director of Programmes. Donor insights and strategic direction were provided by Ms Slinganiso Homela of CBM, setting the tone for two days of substantive review and forward planning.
Day One: Reviewing Performance and Hearing from the Field
Technical and Financial Review
The first full session of the meeting focused on performance accountability. SAFOD’s team, led by Ms Banthati Tshekoetsile and Ms Georginah Kgaswane, presented on overall project progress and financial performance during the extension period. This was followed by presentations from REPSSI, led by Ms Precious Wata and Ms Dorica Mwarire, and from ADRA, presented by Ms Caroline Mwewa and Ms Runyararo Chisewe.
Each presentation covered both technical progress against targets and financial expenditure, with open Q&A allowing partners and the donor to probe implementation quality, financial discipline, and adaptive management. The structure reflected a genuine commitment to accountability — not as a compliance exercise, but as a tool for learning.
OPD-Led Perspectives: What Communities Are Saying
One of the most important sessions on day one was the panel discussion on operational insights from disability-inclusive programming, moderated by Mr Malilwe Malilwe of CBM. Panellists included Mr Misheck Mutamba and Ms Ruth Zulu from ZAFOD, and Mr Leonard Marange and Ms Taurai Kadzviti from FODPZ.
The discussion drew directly on OPD experience at the community level. It examined the practical realities of disability-inclusive programming — what is working, where the barriers persist, and what communities are identifying as priorities for stronger inclusion. The panel reinforced a central theme of the project: OPDs are not just beneficiaries of DRR programming. They are technical actors, community advocates, and agents of accountability.
A key observation emerging from this session was that while awareness of DiDRR concepts has grown significantly among OPD members, many disaster management systems at the district and national level still lack the knowledge, tools, or institutional will to integrate disability inclusion into planning and response.
Government Systems and Sustainability
The afternoon session turned to a presentation by Ms Judith Nyamutenha of the Disaster Prevention and Management Unit (DPMU), on strengthening government systems for disability-inclusive DRR. This session explored the impact of the project’s engagement with government actors and examined which approaches have the most potential for sustained change after project funding ends.
The session raised critical questions about institutional ownership. Government systems that actively engage OPDs in disaster planning create more inclusive and resilient outcomes. But this engagement requires sustained effort, formal mechanisms, and political will that outlast any single project cycle.
Day Two: Strategic Planning for Scale-Up
Translating Results into a Scale-Up Vision
Day two opened with a strategic presentation from Ms Ashllah Mmusi on key lessons, achievements, and regional opportunities from the project. This set the foundation for a group work session on vision and strategic priorities, facilitated by Ms Caroline Mwewa of ADRA.
Partners worked in groups to identify where the project had generated the strongest results, where gaps remained, and which geographic and thematic areas offered the most promising opportunities for expansion. Group presentations and plenary discussion synthesised these perspectives into a shared strategic vision.
Collaborative Programme Design
The central session of day two was a participatory programme design workshop, moderated by myself on behalf of SAFOD. The workshop was structured around four interconnected work streams: context, rationale, and target scope; strategic interventions and implementation arrangements; strategic framework, outcomes, and interventions; and sustainability, partnerships, and resource mobilisation.
Partners worked collaboratively to develop a draft project framework and begin the groundwork for a concept note that could attract funding for the next phase. This was deliberate. The meeting was not simply reviewing what has been done — it was actively building the architecture for what comes next.
The emphasis on co-design was significant. A scale-up programme that all implementing partners have shaped is more likely to be implemented with ownership, consistency, and accountability than one handed down from the top.
Action Planning and Partner Commitments
The closing sessions, led by myself and moderated by Ms Ruth Zulu, focused on concrete next steps. Partners agreed on roles for finalising the concept note, identified lead drafters, and set timelines and milestones for completion and donor engagement. Closing reflections were shared by representatives from FODPZ, ZAFOD, REPSSI, and CBM, marking the end of the project extension period and the beginning of a new planning phase.
Key Themes Emerging from the Meeting
Several themes cut across both days and will shape the next phase of the project.
OPDs as technical actors, not just advocacy voices. A consistent message throughout the meeting was that OPDs must be positioned as technical partners in disaster governance systems — not just consulted, but actively involved in planning, monitoring, and implementation. The Training of Trainers on DiDRR conducted in Boksburg in March 2026, involving participants from Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana, demonstrated the capacity that exists within OPDs when they are equipped and supported.
Early warning systems must reach everyone. A recurring concern was the inaccessibility of early warning systems for many persons with disabilities. Information about incoming hazards often reaches communities in formats that exclude people with visual, hearing, or cognitive impairments. Monitoring inclusive early warning systems was a specific focus of recent project capacity building, and this gap requires sustained attention in any future phase.
Government engagement is necessary but not sufficient. The involvement of the DPMU and government actors from Zimbabwe and Zambia was a meaningful achievement of the project. But the meeting was honest about the limits of this engagement. Policy frameworks can acknowledge disability inclusion while practice lags far behind. Building government capacity and accountability requires long-term partnership, not project-by-project engagement.
Sustainability cannot be an afterthought. Partners were direct on this point. When funding ends, the inclusion of persons with disabilities in DRR systems should not end with it. Building OPD capacity, embedding inclusion in government systems, and establishing peer learning networks are all strategies that extend impact beyond the project cycle.
Scale-up requires a regional approach. The project currently operates in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. The meeting identified clear opportunities to extend this work to additional SADC member states. A regional approach — anchored in SAFOD’s network of 16 national affiliates — would ensure consistency, promote shared learning, and strengthen the case for engagement with SADC regional bodies.
Looking Ahead
The Regional All-Partners Meeting achieved what it set out to do. It produced an honest account of performance, a clear-eyed analysis of challenges, and a shared strategic foundation for the next phase of work.
The CBM-funded DiDRR project has demonstrated that it is possible to build genuine OPD capacity on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction, to engage government systems meaningfully, and to generate evidence that can inform both national and regional policy. The project has also been honest about the scale of the challenge. Climate-related disasters are increasing. Persons with disabilities remain at disproportionate risk. The systems that should protect them are not yet fit for purpose.
SAFOD and its partners are committed to changing that. The concept note development process that begins from this meeting is the next step in that journey.
The DiDRR project is funded by Christian Blind Mission (CBM) and implemented by SAFOD in partnership with ADRA Zambia, REPSSI, ZAFOD, and FODPZ. SAFOD is the leading regional disability-focused network operating across all 16 SADC Member States. For more information, visit safod.net.