The African Disability Forum Conference will take place on 1-4 September, followed by the African Regional Pre-Summit of the Global Disability Summit (GDS) on 5 September in Nairobi, Kenya.

As the first regional events leading up to the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in April 2025, these conferences are critical for reflecting on progress, advocating for change, and encouraging greater investment in disability inclusion.

The African Disability Forum is the regional representative body for organisations of people with disabilities (OPDs) in Africa. The Regional Pre-Summit, organised by the German government in collaboration with the GDS Secretariat, will bring together ADF members, International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) members, government representatives, UN agencies, and private sector stakeholders.

Members of the Inclusive Futures consortium will feature across the week-long series of events. This will include hosting a session that will focus on the successes and learnings of our partnership model from the ‘Disability Inclusive Development’ branch of the programme, which is funded by UK aid. The panel will include imminent voices from the African disability rights movement who are involved in Inclusive Futures, such as Sally Nduta, Chief Executive Officer of United Disabled Persons of Kenya and Lucy Mulombii, Chair of Kakamega County Disability Caucus and a women-led OPD. They will feature alongside Dom Haslam, Deputy CEO of Sightsavers and Jose Viera, Interim Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance.

Johannes Trimmel, Programme Director for Disability Inclusive Development said: “Despite some progress in recent years, people with disabilities are being left behind in global development programmes and services. As we look towards the Global Disability Summit in Berlin in April 2025, we must urgently turn attention towards people with disabilities – who make up 16% of the world’s population and continue to be more likely to live in poverty and face barriers to education, health care, and employment.”

Representatives from the Global Labor Program – Inclusive Futures will also feature in the African Disability Forum Conference. Roselyne Olewe Nyunya, Chief of Party for the Global Labor Program, said: “While most of the 1.3 billion people with disabilities around the world are of working age, only about a third are in employment. Their chances to earn a living are often limited by stigma, discrimination and a lack of accessible workplaces. Inclusive Futures shows that a disability inclusive economy is achievable and the benefits to individuals, communities, businesses and governments are considerable.”

Thanks to support from funders such as UK aid, and the work of NGOs, research partners, organisations of people with disabilities (OPDs) and country governments, since 2018 Inclusive Futures has collectively transformed the lives of more than three million people. The programme has also reached nearly 14 million people without disabilities and given them training and awareness about inclusion, so they can become allies in challenging stigma and building a more disability inclusive world for everyone.

The Global Disability Summit will take place in Berlin on 2-3 April 2025 and is hosted by the International Disability Alliance, the government of Germany and the government of Jordan.