Southern Africa Family Placement Conference 2026 will bring together government leaders, practitioners, and strategic partners to strengthen national systems, accelerate family-based care reform, explore innovation in family placement, and build lasting relationships across the region.

Government leaders, child welfare professionals, and strategic partners from across Southern Africa will gather in Livingstone, Zambia, from 6–8 May 2026 for the Southern Africa Family Placement Conference 2026.

Hosted by the Zambian Ministry of Community Development and Social Services in partnership with Care for Children, the conference will take place at the Radisson Blu Mosi-Oa-Tunya Livingstone Resort under the theme ‘Empowering Governments to Reform Child Welfare.’ It will bring together ministers, permanent secretaries, practitioners, and sector leaders around four clear priorities: strengthening national systems, accelerating family-based care reform, exploring innovation in family placement, and building lasting relationships.

At an important moment for the region, the conference is designed to help governments move from vision to implementation. Through keynote sessions, ministerial presentations, workshops, roundtables, and strategic networking, delegates will explore how child welfare systems can be strengthened so that more children can grow up in safe, loving families rather than institutional care.

The programme reflects both leadership and practical action. The opening day will include a keynote address from Hon. Doreen Sefuke Mwamba, Zambia’s Minister of Community Development and Social Services, alongside the launch of the National Child Policy. Delegates will also hear from Care for Children’s Executive Director, Dr Robert Glover OBE, on the long-term Journey of Reform, highlighting the transition from institutional care to stronger family and community-based systems. A further presentation on the economics of community care will examine why family-based reform is not only better for children, but also a sustainable and strategic investment for governments.

Regional collaboration will be central to the gathering. Ministerial presentations are scheduled from Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Eswatini, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe, creating an opportunity for countries to share reform journeys, exchange lessons, and identify ways to accelerate progress together.

The conference will also explore innovation in family placement through practical workshops focused on family recruitment, family assessment, research and evidence-based family support, supporting placements for children with complex needs, and attachment and trauma in family placement. A closed roundtable for heads of mission will provide senior leaders with dedicated space to consider how reform can be accelerated across Southern Africa, while sessions on digitisation will underline the importance of modern, integrated systems in protecting children and strengthening services.

Care for Children will also highlight practical tools that can support reform at scale, including My Family, its digital training and resource platform designed to make child welfare learning more accessible, adaptable, and globally scalable.

Just as importantly, the conference is designed to build lasting relationships. Alongside formal sessions, delegates will share cultural and friendship dinners, creating space to deepen trust, strengthen partnerships, and build the long-term collaboration needed for lasting reform across the region.

The Southern Africa Family Placement Conference represents a shared statement of intent: that governments can lead bold, sustainable reform, and that together we can help bring about a global revolution for children.

"This conference is about more than gathering leaders in one place. It is about helping governments strengthen the systems that children depend on, accelerating reform towards family-based care, exploring innovation that can support placement at scale, and building the trusted relationships that make lasting change possible. When governments lead with courage, clarity, and collaboration, children’s lives can be transformed."

Robert Glover OBE, Founder and Executive Director of Care for Children