Big conferences can feel remote from the communities they are meant to serve. The 9th Africa Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (AfRP-9) in Windhoek drew over 800 delegates from across the continent. Ministers. UN officials. Heads of delegation. SAFOD made sure persons with disabilities had a voice in that room.

Who was there?

Representatives from SAFOD, FEDOMA, ZAFOD, and FODPZ attended the conference together. It was organised by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the African Union, and SADC.

The marketplace booth

For three days — 22 to 24 October — the team ran a booth at the conference marketplace. The theme was clear: Promoting meaningful participation of persons with disabilities as agents of change in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

This was not a passive display. The team engaged delegates, distributed advocacy materials, and used the booth as a platform to start conversations that go beyond the conference hall.

The working session

On 23 October, SAFOD’s Ashllah Mmusi joined a working session with CBM and other DRR experts. She presented lessons from SAFOD’s regional work on disability inclusion in DRR.

Her key points were direct. Participation of persons with disabilities in regional and global DRR platforms is growing — and that matters. Climate change adaptation strategies must be inclusive and accessible, including community-level work like demonstration plots that build resilience from the ground up.

These are not abstract ideas. They come from three years of field work across Malawi, Zimbabwe, and Zambia.

What the Windhoek Declaration said

The conference closed with the adoption of the Windhoek Declaration. It called on governments, regional bodies, and civil society to develop DRR strategies that are people-centred and disability-inclusive. That language does not appear by accident. It reflects sustained pressure from organisations like SAFOD over many years.

New doors opened

Beyond the formal sessions, the conference gave the SAFOD team direct access to potential new partners and investors in DRR. Those connections take time to build. Showing up — consistently, visibly, with evidence — is how they are built.

AfRP-9 was one more step in making sure that when Africa plans for disasters, it plans for everyone.

To learn more about SAFOD’s work on disability-inclusive disaster risk reduction, visit safod.net.