In May 2012, the social partners of the entire SADC met in Johannesburg to deliberate the ILO Social Protection Floor Recommendation 202 and discuss the possibilities of its implementation in the SADC states on national level. This brought together representatives of all SADC governments, employer organisations and trade unions and more than 20 experts from the entire region and all academic disciplines and social protection related working fields. The conference discussed how to translate the unanimous political will into policies and programmes, how to create coherence between general development efforts and policies and the reform, creation, consolidation or expansion of social protection systems. From financing and fiscal space, political and economic impact over gender equity and extension to the informal economy, to central information systems, service delivery and administrative fragmentation, social protection issues, challenges and opportunities were discussed across the board. This publication documents the proceedings of the conference co-hosted by ILO, SADC and FES. At the end of the conference, in an additional meeting, the Southern African Social Protection Experts Network (SASPEN), a regional network of social protection experts and stakeholders was founded.