Mr Amos, Action possesses a MSc in Leadership and Sustainability, Postgraduate Diploma in

Disability Management and Rehabilitation and a BA in Development

Studies. Currently working as the Executive Director of Federation of

Disability Organisations in Malawi (FEDOMA), Chairperson of

Malawi Bureau of Standards, Secretary General of Pan African Users and

Survivors of Psychiatry, Chairperson of the National Taskforce on Living

Conditions in Malawi (2017 -2018). Research and Publications: Epilepsy

in Malawi (2009), Integrated Control of Taenosis/Cysticetcosis in Sub

Saharan Africa (2015) and Mainstreaming Disability a Handbook for

Development Workers (unpublished).

Ms Chimuka, Michelle seeks through the Sani Foundation to facilitate the full inclusion of

individuals with intellectual disabilities into Zambian society. A

cornerstone of its work is the Sunshine Zambia Project, which provides

holistic, relevant training to prepare adolescents and young adults with

intellectual disabilities for employment and independence within their

community. While employment training services in Zambia typically

segregate individuals with disabilities, with few trainees ever graduating to

mainstream jobs with fair wages, Michelle pursues a person-centered

model that assists those with disabilities in securing and maintaining jobs

in the open labour market. Through the Sani Foundation, she also advocates for the adoption of

more inclusive job market policies, while encouraging employers to hire people with disabilities.

Ms Chiware, Christina, born on May 14, 1986 in rural Zimbabwe. Graduated with Bachelor of

Science Honours Degree in Psychology at the University of Zimbabwe in

2008. She joined the employment industry in the Banking Sector. Studied

monitoring and evaluation in 2009 then moved to join the Civil Service.

She has experience in coordination of private voluntary organisations,

disability issues and delivery of social protection at Department of Social

Welfare Zimbabwe. She currently studies MSc Child Rights and

Childhood Studies with Africa University.

Mr Chiwaula, Mussa is a disability activist with vast experience in policy advocacy. He, with

others founded the Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi

(FEDOMA) where he served as Executive Director. He chaired the

taskforce that spearheaded the development of the National Disability

Policy, including lobbying and advocating for the enactment of the

Disability Act. Mussa, who holds B.Sc. degree in Community

Development, now heads the Southern Africa Federation of the

Disabled (SAFOD) based in Botswana. SAFOD is the leading Southern

African disability-focused network engaged in coordination of activities of organisations of

disabled persons in the Southern Africa. His mission at SAFOD advocate for the mainstreaming

of disability on the SADC development agenda.

Ms Kabembo, Ireen Manase is a Lecturer and researcher at the University of Zambia

Department of Social Work and Sociology. Has Master’s Degree in Social

Structure and Social Work from Gazi University in Turkey, a Bachelor’s

Degree in Social Work from the University of Zambia. Is Publicity and

Information Secretary for the Social Workers' Association of Zambia and

course coordinator for 'Social Work, Disability and Mental Health'.

Research interests and experience in Social Policy; Social Protection; Child

Protection and Care; Disability, Mental Health for all age groups;

Psychosocial Counselling and Care. Current research work is on children

with intellectual disabilities

Hon. Ms Kachaje, Rachel is a disability activist with over 25 years’ experience in advocating for

equal opportunities and equal rights for people with disabilities in Malawi

and around the world. She became disabled at the age of 3 due to polio

outbreak. She has proven ability in advancing the agendas of people with

disability in general, more in particular women and girls with disability.

Her mission is to advocate and promote rights for people with disabilities

and lead a life that would always positively affect them in a positive manner

and demonstrate that spiritual and material success depends on one’s own

positive mental attitude. Rachel is the founder of Disabled women in Africa, she is an overall

overseer of the activities of the organization, she makes sure that women’s issues are always

brought into the forefront of the agenda at all levels.

Mr Kauwa, Kumbukeni was born in the year 1989 on 10 November in a family of 2 children, he

is a Malawian and a Social Worker by profession. He graduated in 2011 with

a bachelor's degree in social work obtained from Catholic university of

Malawi. He is also a holder of a certificate in Designing Effective Social

Programmes offered by Economic Policy Research Institute EPRI. Currently

he is working as a Social Support Services Officer at Nsanje District Council

under the Ministry of Gender Children Disability and Social Welfare.

Dr Kelly, Gabrielle is a postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public

Policy in Africa at the University of Cape Town. She is also a senior research

associate at the Samson Institute for Ageing Research. Her work focuses on

disability, ageing and health and welfare policy in South Africa. While

completing her PhD in Sociology, she spent two years at Yale University as a

Fox International Fellow and research associate at the Yale School of Public

Health. She completed an MPhil at Stellenbosch University and an

undergraduate degree in Politics and Economics at UCT.

Mr Kesamang, Lefhoko is Senior Social Welfare Officer in the Division of Social Welfare,

Vulnerable and Drug Control, in the Department of Social Affairs of the

African Union Commission. Before that he served as Principal Social

Worker in the Department of Social Services, and as Health Attaché at the

Botswana Consulate General. He holds a BA of Social Work from the

University of Botswana, and a Masters in Social Work from Nelson

Mandela Metropolitan University.

Mr Kondowe, Overstone Frank was born with albinism on 20th December, 1978, he is married

with 3 children. He earned his first and second degrees from the University

of Malawi. He worked in several institutions as a secondary school teacher,

researcher, university lecturer, and programme manager for water & hygiene

projects. Has served as a human rights activist for 16 years and he is the

current President of the Association of Persons with Albinism in Malawi

(APAM). He is also currently serving as a Project Officer for a largest

Community Security Project for persons with albinism in Malawi run by

Disabled Women in Africa (DIWA).

Ms Korpinen, Pia is a senior disability expert with 10 years of work experience in disability

inclusion with the ILO. In her current position as Disability Programme

Specialist she manages the disability pillar of the Joint UN

Programme on Social Protection in Zambia. Prior to this, she has

worked for 8 years as the Regional Coordinator for three disability

projects covering six countries in the Africa region (Ethiopia, Zambia,

Tanzania, Uganda, Botswana and Kenya), first based in Addis Ababa,

Ethiopia and then in Lusaka, Zambia. She has also worked as part of the Disability Team at ILO

headquarters on projects related to skills acquisition for persons with disabilities and

entrepreneurship development for women with disabilities and with employment services and

skills training for immigrants in Finland. Ms Korpinen holds a Masters Degree in Social Sciences

from the University of Helsinki.

Ms Kubanga, Kefentse Princess is a Lecturer at the University of Botswana in the Department

of Social Work. Her areas of research interests include people with

disabilities, community development, women issues, children`s rights,

residential care for children and social work education. Before joining the

world of academia, she served as a social work practitioner in Botswana for

several years. She has extensive knowledge and skills in social work with

individuals, groups and communities.

Mr Kumitz, Daniel works for UNICEF Zambia as social policy specialist and coordinates the

Zambian UN Joint Programme on Social Protection, which provides

technical support to the implementation of the Zambian National Social

Protection Policy. Before joining UNICEF, Daniel worked as programme

officer for Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Lusaka, where he designed a

continental advocacy project for universal social protection in

collaboration between civil society organisations, trade unions and

informal workers’ organisations. In this position, he also headed the

Secretariat of the Southern African Social Protection Experts Network

SASPEN (www.saspen.org) as Network Coordinator. Daniel is a German sociologist and has

published on social protection, social policy, development studies, abilism, racism, gender,

nationalism and social theory. He has five children and lives with his family in Lusaka.

Dr Makoka, Donald is a seasoned researcher and a Development Economist from Malawi. He

works as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Agricultural Research and

Development (CARD) of the Lilongwe University of Agriculture and

Natural Resources. He holds a PhD in Development Economics. He has

spent the last 10 years conducting research on poverty, risk and

vulnerability, resilience and sustainable livelihoods. In the past few years,

his research has focused on social protection, with special reference to

humanitarian cash transfers in the southern African region. He has also been undertaking research

on mainstreaming disability in social protection, as well as undertaking external evaluations of

disability programmes in Malawi.

Dr Maripe, Kgosietsile holds a CSW, DSW, BSW, MSW (University of Botswana), and PhD in

Social Work (North West, University), RSA. A Senior Lecturer in the

Department of Social Work, University of Botswana. His research and

publications are on community resilience to disasters, the caregivers of

children with disability, and tracer study for university graduates from 1998

-2008; disasters and communities, the role of social workers in DRR, early

warning systems, and vulnerability. He has presented papers at the national,

regional, and international conferences in social work subjects. He has

served in the Government and Non-Governmental Organisations.

Mr Masoebe, Phoka is an advocate of the High Court of Lesotho who completed his LLB at the

National University of Lesotho and proceeded to the North-West University

(Potchefstroom Campus) where he completed his Masters in Labour Law.

He is currently an LLD Candidate at the North-West University and his

thesis is entitled "Portability of social Security benefits of circular migrant

workers in selected SADC member states."' He fell in love with the idea of

protecting the vulnerable at a very young age after partaking in the Prince

Mohato Award which is a self development programme availed to young

people between the ages 14 to 25 with an intention of equipping them with

lifelong skills and the will to make a difference to themselves and the entire

community.

Ms McClain-Nhlapo, Charlotte is the Global Disability Advisor for the World Bank Group,

where her work is focused on disability inclusive development under its

twin goals of ending poverty and promoting shared prosperity. As

Disability Advisor, she supports operational teams across the Bank to

ensure that its policies, programs and projects are disability inclusive. Her

responsibilities include: leading the production of analytical products;

analyzing and articulating Bank policy on disability and development and

fostering partnerships with key stakeholders. In 2010 as a well-respected

human rights lawyer in disability and child rights advocate, she was appointed by President Obama

to led USAID’s work on disability inclusive development that included developing inclusive sector

policies and country strategies and provided technical assistance for program implementation.

Prior to this, she worked as a senior operations officer at the Bank in the East Asia Pacific and

Africa regions. Earlier in her career, she was appointed by President Nelson Mandela as a

Commissioner to the South African Human Rights Commission focusing on social and economic

rights, disability rights and child rights. She also served as a project officer on child protection for

UNICEF. Charlotte holds Law Degrees in international law and administration from the University

of Warsaw, Poland and Cornell Law School.

Ms Mdemu, Christina is a registered advocate of the High Court of Tanzania and courts

subordinate to. She is a holder of Bachelor of Laws (LLB Hons) from the

University of Dar es salaam and Post Graduate Diploma in Legal practice

from the Law School of Tanzania. She has more than 8 years' experience

working for International and regional organization implementing programs

on system strengthening on children, social welfare and HIV/ AIDS

programs. She is currently working with World Education Inc as a Social

Welfare and Protection Officer on a Community Health and Social Welfare

System Strengthening Program (CHSSP) providing technical support on

social welfare and protection component.

Dr Nhongo, Tavengwa M. is the Executive Director, Africa Platform for Social Protection

(APSP). Before joining the APSP, he was the Regional

Representative of HelpAge International for Africa. He is a recipient

of the International Rosalie S. Wolf Memorial Award for being “a

unique and generous protector of older persons”. Tavengwa was

instrumental in organising the Livingstone Conference in 2006 which

resulted in the Livingstone Call for Action that led to the development

of AU Social Policy Framework. He is a member of the Africa Commission for Human and

People’s Rights (ACHPR) Working Group that developed the Protocol on the Rights of Oder

Persons recently approved by Heads of State and Government and the Protocol on the Rights of

People with Disabilities.

Ms Mokoena, Crystal is a law lecturer at the University of Venda, South Africa. She currently

teaches Public International Law and Social Security Law in the

department of Public Law. Her research interests are in social security law.

She has written on teenage mothers and the receipt of child support grant,

as well as on legalisation of prostitution in South Africa. Crystal holds

LLB and LLM degrees from the University of Venda.

Ms Mollel, Vailet is a Sociologist with BA in Sociology from the University of Dar es salaam

with diverse experience in social work practice at policy level and community

level programs. She is a trained National Facilitator for, Case management

System, Para Social Work Program, Child Protection, Gender Based Violence,

Psychosocial Support, Human Trafficking and Quality Improvement for

services provided to Most Vulnerable Children. She is currently working for

World Education Inc in a Community Health and Social Welfare System

Strengthening Program as a referral and Linkages officer responsible in

overseeing and coordinating the development of a national integrated case

Management System for Most Vulnerable Children in Tanzania.

Dr Mont, Daniel, Co-President of the Center for Inclusive Policy is an international expert in

disability statistics and inclusive policies for social protection,

employment, and education. He was a Senior Economist with the World

Bank for 10 years, and is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the

LCD Inclusive Development Centre at University College London. He

has worked with UNICEF, ILO, UNESCAP, AUSAID, DFID, OSF, the

International Disability Alliance, and the World Bank, and received a

PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is the author of A Different Kind

of Boy: A Father's Memoir About Raising a Gifted Child with Autism.

Ms Mopai, Zamokuhle holds LLB and LLM degrees from the University of Venda, South Africa.

She is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Cape Town. She is a

lecturer at the University of Venda in the department of Jurisprudence

where she teaches Customary Law and Introduction to Law. She

specializes in South African Customary Law.

Ms Mphepo, Tumeliva is a Malawian lady with albinism aged 21. She has a bachelor’s degree in

social sciences majoring in economics and minoring sociology which she

obtained from Chancellor College of the University of Malawi. Currently, she

works with Disabled Women in Africa in its project of a “community based

initiative to ensure effective security of the human rights of persons with

albinism” as monitoring and evaluation officer.

Dr Mtetwa, Edmos has been a social worker in the public sector for close to a decade. In this

capacity, he served as a district social welfare officer responsible for

child protection and probation work, implementation of social safety

nets, the design and implementation of social protection programmes as

well as family casework and adult welfare. He has got experience in the

area of local government planning and development that he acquired

during the course of practise. On the academic front, Dr Mtetwa has been

a lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe School Of Social Work since

2009. He has taught a number of courses including Introduction to social

work, Social work with individuals, Project planning and management, rural development,

Planning Social Services for Development and Qualitative Research methods. Dr Mtetwa is an

experienced researcher and dissertation supervisor at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Ms Mudora Obande, Helen is a human rights defender with a special interest in vulnerable

groups. She is a Programme Coordinator at the Africa Platform for

Social Protection (APSP). Helen has previously served as the

Executive Director of the Association of Media Women in Kenya, and

the United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), the umbrella

organization for Disabled Persons in Kenya. Helen has an MA in

Women Studies from San Francisco State University in California. She

is an alumni of the Ford Foundation International Fellowship

Programme, and a recipient of the Excellent Student award in Women and Gender Studies, San

Francisco State University, California.

Prof Mupedziswa, Rodreck is Professor in the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of

Botswana, where until recently, he served as Head of

Department for 6 years. He was educated at various institutions,

including the London School of Economics (University of

London) and the University of Zimbabwe. Previous positions

held include Director of the Forced Migration Studies

Programme in the Graduate School for the Humanities at the

University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg and Deputy Director at the School of

Social Work at the University of Zimbabwe. He has served as visiting professor to a number of

academic institutions including Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK, Minnesota State

University, USA, and National University of Lesotho. Prof Mupedziswa’s research interests focus

essentially on social development issues with particular emphasis on initiatives (e.g. social

protection) for improving the living standards of vulnerable groups in society.

Mr Mwiya, Muya Katukula has vast experience in disability programming, planning, policy

formulation and dissemination. His work in the field of Disability and

Social protection has exposed him to national and regional (East and

southern Africa) on how countries are making strides in advancing

disability rights and social protection. He has experience in setting

up community based rehabilitation programmes within the rural

district to disability planning, policy and legal formulation and

engagement of various stakeholders Government Ministries and Disabled People’s Organization

as they relate to disability policy and social development. He further has experience on Elections

and Inclusion as he saved on the National Voter Education Committee of the Electoral

Commission of Zambia where he was responsible for mainstreaming disability in the electoral

process. Currently, he is working as a consultant on extending of social protection to the

informal economy in Zambia.

Ms Renata Nowak-Garmer is the Employment and Social Protection Programme Specialist at

the UNDP Regional Service Center in Addis Ababa. In this role,

Renata provides technical assistance to countries and regional

institutions on design and implementation of employment and social

protection policies, strategies and projects. She supported social

protection and youth employment programming in over 15 countries

in Africa. In her previous position in UNDP Poverty Group, New

York, she worked on topics related to economic governance with

focus on youth employment and social inclusion. Her policy interests include youth employment

in the service sector, inter-generational relationships, informal social protection, and ageing and

development. Renata also facilitated the UNDP Poverty Reduction Network (PRNet) and

Community of Practice. Before joining UNDP in 2005, Renata spent five years working in the

Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation, an institution that fights xenophobia and promotes tolerance

and inter-faith dialogue. Renata holds an MA degree in German Studies from the Jagiellonian

University in Krakow, Poland, and a Master’s degree in Economic and Political Development from

Columbia University, New York where she was a Harriman Fellow. Renata speaks Polish, English,

German, and Russian, and is currently learning French.

Mr Obara, Samuel Namulumba is a programme manager with the Africa Platform for Social

Protection (APSP) a Pan African NGO based in Nairobi

Kenya, with a mission to strengthen civil society engagement

in Social Protection policies and programmes in Africa. Samuel

holds a Master’s degree in Sociology, he received a certificate

in Designing and Implementing

Social Protection Programmes in Africa, jointly offered by Africa Institute for Health and

Development- Kenya, Maastricht Graduate school of Governance Netherlands and Economic

Policy Research Institute - South Africa. Samuel has wide experience in International development

advocating for social justice for vulnerable communities in Africa.

Prof Olivier, Marius is Extraordinary Professor in the Faculty of Law, Northwest University,

and Director of the Institute for Social Law and Policy (ISLP). He is

also Advisory Council and Steering Committee Member of SASPEN.

Mr Rori, Richard Nyakundi, born in 1964 holds a Master of Social Protection Financing, Master

of Business Administration in Strategic Management, and a Postgraduate

Diploma in Social Security among others. Mr Rori has diverse and vast

work experience ranging from teaching, corporate communications, public

administration, and social protection. Currently Mr Rori is a Social

Protection Policy Analyst, at the State Department of Social Protection

– the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) of Kenya. He is a member

of the National Taskforce on Pensions Reform in Kenya, Member of the

National Taskforce drafting Older Persons Bill, Member of the UNDAF

Outcome 2.4 – Social Protection in Kenya.

Mr Sefuthi, Nkhasi is the Executive Director of the Lesotho National Federation of

Organisations of the Disabled (LNFOD). Finalising Master’s Degree in

human rights law (LLM) with the UNISA, he obtained Bachelor of laws

Honours Degree (LLB) from the National University of Lesotho in 2010.

He was later in the same year admitted as the Advocate of the Courts of

Lesotho by the High Court of Lesotho. He joined the secretariat of LNFOD

as the Advocacy officer in 2011. In 2014, he was appointed as the Executive

Director where he has facilitated the submission of LNFOD report on the

state of human rights of people with disabilities to the Universal Periodic review in 2014 which

resulted in the Government of Lesotho consulting with LNFOD on the implementation of certain

recommendations.

Ms Sinkamba, Refilwe Precious, BSW, MSW, is a senior lecturer in the Department of Social

Work at the University of Botswana. She has published in several peer

reviewed journals and presented in several international and national

conferences. Her research interests are alcohol and substance abuse, mental

health, male abuse, children and youth, student affairs, social security,

disability as well as HIV and AIDS.

Dr Tandrayen-Ragoobur, Verena is Associate Professor in Economics in the Department of

Economics and Statistics at the University of Mauritius.

Her research areas are international trade, labour markets,

poverty, social protection and gender issues. She has

published in the Review of Development Economics,

Journal of African Business, Journal of Chinese Economic

and Foreign Trade Issues, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

An International Journal and Journal of Economic Research, among others. She has been involved

in a number of research projects and consultancies funded by international and regional institutions

like CEEPA, AERC, BIDPA, TIPS, UNCTAD, ILO and World Bank among others. Verena has

also been the chair of the WTO Chairs Programme from 2010 to 2012 and Head of the Department

of Economics and Statistics at the University of Mauritius from April 2014 to April 2016.

Ms Tebaldi, Raquel holds a BA in International Relations and a Master's degree in Political

Science from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS),

Brazil. She joined the International Policy Centre for Inclusive

Growth (IPC-IG) in 2015 and currently works as a Research Assistant.

She is mainly involved with the socialprotection.org platform and the

"Brazil & Africa: fighting poverty and empowering women via South-

South Cooperation" project. Her areas of research include social

protection, South-South cooperation and gender studies.

Mr Tumwebaze, Jonathan is a researcher and a social science Faculty at Uganda Christian

University (UCU)-Mukono. His first degree was in Development

Studies and second degree in Research and Public Policy (Masters) from

Uganda Christian University. Jonathan has worked with Development

Research and Training (DRT) - Policy think-tank- working on Health

policy design and implementation in slum communities in Kampala. His

recent publications have been on; Operationalizing Data Revolution in

Uganda, The Relationship between SAGE and HIV+ orphaned children

in Uganda, and other policy briefs. Jonathan is a passionate research and

policy scholar, exploring options for doctoral studies in health policy and systems strengthening.