SA-IPLJ: Inclusive Policies, Legislation and Justice

SAFOD Programme

SA-IPLJ: Inclusive Policies, Legislation and Justice

Disability rights exist on paper across Southern Africa. SA-IPLJ works to make them real — in law, in policy, and in practice.

IN THE PICTURE: SAFOD presenting a draft regional disability protocol at a consultative meeting as part of its efforts in advancing inclusive policies, legislation, and justice across Southern Africa.

Most SADC member states have ratified the CRPD and adopted national disability policies. Yet persons with disabilities remain excluded from the systems those laws are meant to protect. SA-IPLJ exists to close that gap — embedding disability rights into laws and frameworks, and holding governments to account.

Two levels of work

National

Supporting OPDs to engage governments on law reform, policy review, and inclusive budgeting.

Regional

Leading the campaign for a binding SADC Disability Protocol — the most significant advocacy effort in SAFOD's history.

The Protocol campaign

A decade in the making

2016Desk research reviewing how SADC's existing instruments addressed disability rights.
2017Zero-draft Protocol introduced at SAFOD's first regional roundtable.
2021SADC Chairperson President Lazarus Chakwera gave a public commitment to support a SADC Desk Office on disability mainstreaming.
2023Three-year stakeholder influence plan developed to drive adoption by SADC leadership.
2026Consultative Regional Roundtable Forum in Johannesburg — stakeholders from across SADC reviewed and advanced the Draft Protocol.

Key activities

Development and validation of a Policy and Stakeholder Influence Strategy to guide SAFOD's regional advocacy from 2021 to 2025.
A public webinar in 2022 reaching 86 participants, raising awareness of the campaign and gathering inputs into the draft.
The 2022 Regional Disability Roundtable Forum in Johannesburg, under the theme "Leaving No One Behind," which assessed progress on disability mainstreaming and built momentum for the Protocol.
A dedicated Protocol seminar in 2023 to map strategic advocacy actions and sharpen the roadmap.
The 2026 Consultative Regional Roundtable Forum in Johannesburg, bringing together stakeholders from across SADC to review and advance the Draft Protocol.

Why this matters: A binding SADC Disability Protocol would legally oblige member states to mainstream disability across all regional frameworks — from trade and health to education and justice. No such instrument currently exists in the region.

Rights written into law mean nothing without enforcement. SA-IPLJ is built on the belief that change requires both the right frameworks and the sustained pressure to make governments act on them.