On September 5, 2024, the African Regional Pre-Summit in Nairobi launched the first in a series of events leading up to the Global Disability Summit (GDS) 2025. Co-organized by the African Disability Forum (ADF) and the International Disability Alliance (IDA), and co-hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the pre-summit followed the ADF Conference (September 2-4).
As the first regional event for GDS 2025, the African Pre-Summit emphasized Africa’s key role in global disability inclusion, building on the momentum from the 2018 and 2022 Global Disability Summits.
The objective was:
- To build shared understanding of the current challenges and priorities of persons with disabilities in the African region and highlight such context within the GDS framework.
- To bring together governments, development actors, civil society organizations (CSOs), along with the private sector, to share learnings and experiences from the previous GDS cycles and provide recommendations going into 2025.
- To identify, within the thematic pillars of the GDS, what type of commitments are needed.
- To promote, based on the needs identified, drafting, submission and implementation of joint commitments, made in partnership between OPDs and other stakeholders.
Highlights of the Pre-Summit:
- Multilateral Collaboration: Officials from the Kenyan Government, British High Commission, U.S. Embassy, and co-hosts called for sustainable funding and stronger global cooperation on disability rights.
- Active OPD Participation: Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) played a central role, ensuring African perspectives shape commitments for GDS 2025.
- Strategic Discussions: Key discussions focused on Africa’s progress since GDS 2018 and 2022, assessing the implementation of past commitments.
- Outcome Document: Representatives of national, subregional, and pan-African organizations of persons with disabilities from 38 countries across Africa jointly prepared the African Signal to the GDS 2025, outlining Africa’s priorities for the GDS 2025. You can download the document here.
You can view the concept note for the Summit and the Program for the event below.
