The Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi

FEDOMA are an umbrella organisation of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities in Malawi working to provide a unified voice for all people with disabilities.

What do they do?

The Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi (FEDOMA) was founded in 1999, as an umbrella of Organisations of Persons with Disabilities (OPDs) in Malawi to provide a unified voice for all OPDs. Through a more recent review of their affiliates, FEDOMA identified a significant gap in service provision and civil society representation for children with disabilities.

FEDOMA recognised that it needed to do more to ensure the specific voices and needs of children with disabilities were represented across their membership and in their work, and so approached Able Child Africa to discuss a potential partnership.

Following a long and robust partnership process, a partnership was formalised in January 2021 and we are committed to support FEDOMA over the coming years to ensure that the protection, education, and empowerment of children with disabilities becomes a core aspect of their delivery and impact.

Find out more about FEDOMA on their website. 

Our work together

As the umbrella organisation for 12 OPD’s in Malawi, FEDOMA are well placed to deliver programmes at both a national and grassroots level which means our programmatic work together can provide meaningful and long-lasting impact on the lives of children with disabilities across Malawi. FEDOMA are imbedded within the national policy environment and are regularly consulted on high level policy, budgetary and implementation decisions that concern people with disabilities. Able Child work with FEDOMA to strengthen their authority with these change makers, ensuring that they and their members are seen as the technical lead on how best to include children with disabilities within a Malawian context.

Following on from the accessibility audits we completed led by people with disabilities, we have now improved the accessibility of Community Childhood Centres as part of our Early Childhood Education project in Malawi. We have supported the modification of these centres to ensure they are safe and inclusive for children with disabilities to learn and thrive. We have equipped the centres with inclusive play equipment to encourage pre-school children with disabilities to develop key skills in a fun and inclusive environment, preparing them for further learning.