Regional News

Youth Trained in Senegal

Participants of a youth workshop held in May 2008 in Senegal pledged to aggressively advocate for the rights of children and youth with disabilities.
 
The workshop organized by SADPD facilitated the development of the vision, mission and purpose of the Decade Youth Committee. Eighteen youths from the region participated. It was a follow up workshop to another held in the same country in December 2007.
 
They said it was important to build youth capacity to claim their rights, through dissemination and establishment of networks.
 
They pledged to create databases to facilitate information exchange on issues affecting them.
 
For more information, contact Email:
nafisa@africandecade.co.za

 
Pan African Albinism Association  Formed

 
A regional body has been formed to address the rights of persons with Albinism. The pan African Albinism Association was formed on 7th  May 2008 at an SADPD sponsored workshop held in  Da res Salaam, Tanzania.
 
The founder members included, Botswana, Ghana, Senegal, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya and Malawi. Other areas of advocacy that the association will address include, the incidences of violence perpetrated against persons with albinism.
 
Ritual killings of persons with albinism is a major crisis in East Africa and this is a critical issues that the association will grapple with.
 
In its effort to address specific needs of people with albinism, the association resolved to lobby African states;

Ratify and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability and its Optional Protocol.
 
Form a representative continental body that advocates, promotes and addresses particular concerns especially the rights of persons with albinism in Africa.
 
States authorities investigate and prosecute all cases of human rights violations and abuse of persons with Albinism especially gender based violence and  ritual killings.
 
Governments put in place plans and policies that address discrimination against persons with albinism by ensuring effective, equitable, inclusion, and participation at all levels of decision-making processes.
 
States  promote equal provision of services especially on the areas of health education employment and access to justice for all persons with albinism who suffer  and are victims of exclusion and human rights violations
 
Adopt Albinism as a crosscutting issue that should be mainstreamed in national policies and plans.
 
For more information contact, Email:
Nikiwe@africandecade.co.za

Ghanaian Association for the Blind calls for Inclusion of PWDs in Decision  Making

 The Ghanaian Association of the Blind (GAB) has appealed to the Ghanaian government and policy makers to involve Persons with disability in decision-making to help care for their interests

 Speaking at the branch’s regional conference held last month in Ghana, Agnes Tetteh Chairperson of GAB, expressed disappointment at   policy makers failure to seek views of Persons With Disabilities (PWDS) before implementing policies.

 She in particular pointed out that the countries currency was not easily identifiable by the blind and partially sighted persons.

 She appealed to the public, politicians, the Road Safety Commission and all policy makers to make disability issues a priority in planning programmes and activities to ensure a meaningful life for blind and partially sighted persons as well as all  PWDs.
 
For more information, visit
http://www.ghanaweb.com

Zimbabwean Media Caters for Deaf Persons

 
CHIPAWO media in Zimbabwe has taken up the initiative and increased TV programmes for the Deaf  in sign language.

The move comes at a time when the rights of  persons with disabilities in Zimbabwe are under scrutiny. Though there are television programmes for the deaf in other countries, the initiative of CHIPAWO in Zimbabwe must be appreciated during this period when the country is in a political crisis.
 
CHIPAWO productions for the deaf in sign language grew out of the arts education and performance work began at Emerald Hill School for the deaf in Harare, in 1994 supported by World University Service (WUS), Canada.
 
For more information, contact
Email:  chipawo@mango.zw

 
     Reference Book on Community Based  Rehabilitation Developed

The Community based Rehabilitation African network (CAN) has developed a reference book on Community Based Rehabilitation.
 
The book offers a participatory approach to Community Based Rehabilitation in Africa. All articles are authored by Africans and offer their own CBR experiences and case studies of their programmes, the problems they face and how they can be overcome them.

CAN is an NGO aimed at facilitating and sharing information about community based services for persons with disability and their families in African countries.

It was established to support CBR initiatives and to document good practice.

Its objectives include, collection of information about disability services from all Africa countries and to facilitate the capacity of CBR workers, to confirm their experiences between themselves and with other practitioners.
 
The reference book offers a range of views useful for stimulating debate by practioners. It has an appendix with discussion questions that could be used for conferences or workshops or a basis for discussions in training programmes.
 
It also has references to useful websites, which can be used by practitioners all over Africa.
 
For more information, visit: www.afri-can.org

 
Teachers Absenteeism in Uganda Threatening UPE

Teacher absenteeism in Primary schools in Uganda threatens to undermine efforts gained in Universal Primary Education, a   Millennium Development Goal.
 
According to a report “2007 state of Primary education in Uganda” released this month, teachers dodge classes because of delayed salaries, long distances and inadequate supervision.

The research carried out by Dutch operations Evaluation Department says teacher  absenteeism is an enormous problem.
“There are a few reliable estimates but most figures range between 20 % and  30 %” , the report indicates.

In Uganda, there are about 13,000 primary school teachers, meaning that some 4,000 are absent from school at any given time. The report says absenteeism is higher in rural   areas than in urban centres.
 
Pupils opt not to go to school because they do not expect their teachers to be there.
 
Source: The New Vision, Uganda 17th June 2008

 
International News

 
Beijing’s Paralympics Games Guide to be Rewritten

 
Organizers of the Beijing Olpmic and Paralympic Games have been forced to rewrite an official guide For volunteers after it was declared  “ outdated and Disablist” by disability groups.
 
The guide is alleged to have stereotypes of disabled people considered to be outrageous.  Concerns raised were found around the tips on how volunteers should interact with disabled people.

It described disabled people as “special group” with unique personalities and ways of thinking”. It is alleged to have stated that “Disabled people can be  defensive and have strong sense of inferiority”.

The guide further warned that certain groups of disabled people are “introverted and seldom show strong emotions” or “ isolated, unsocial and introspective stubborn and controlling”.
 
Source: Disability now.

Disabled Asians Forced to Marry

 
A recent survey on disability among Asian communities indicates that disabled youth are being forced to marry.

The survey carried out by disability now shows a significant number of these marriages involve disabled people.
 
Many are subjected to domestic violence by family members to force them to marry. Some are kidnapped if they resist. Others are either sexually assaulted or raped if they cannot or do not give consent to intercourse once married.

The research indicates that a number of forced marriages have ended in murder. Saghir Alam, sitting on the disability committee at the equality committee at the equality and Human rights commission (UK) supports the rights of disabled people to marry.

“Ten or 15 years ago young disabled people in our community couldn’t get married and we certainly don’t want to prevent marriage. But there must be free consent under Sharia law. We don't want People being coerced to marriage”, he says.

He notes that forced marriages for the disabled is done by aging parents who fear leaving their disabled children behind to fend for themselves.

A UK Mp Dominic Grieve, the shadow Attorney General, has been reported to have raised the issue  in parliament. “ there is a school in my constituency for children with learning disabilities. I am afraid that there is a consistent pattern of girls being removed at the age of 16 to be sent to the Indian sub continent to be married” he was quoted.
 
For more information, contact Email:
fmu@fco.gov.uk

 
Learning Disabilities Analyzed

 
Learning disabilities in school if not detected early, can lead to misunderstanding between teachers, parents and pupils.

Documented learning disabilities include: - Dyslexia. It most commonly affect a person’s ability to read, write or spell. Although there is no cure, people with dyslexia can be successful learners.

Dyscaculia is a problem that affects the brains ability to process and understand the meaning of numbers. Some children dyscalculia may not remember the correct order of operations when solving math problems. They need carefully tailored practice to help them with math skills.
 
Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects writing. Early treatment can help prevent or reduce            dysgraphia.

Exercises can help improve hand strength and the ability  of the muscles to remember how to write shapes. Teachers can help students around the disability. Assistance may include extra time to write, help with taking notes or even using a thicker than standard pencil.
 
Attention Deficit Disorder and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder affects approximately five to ten percent of children worldwide. Medicine can sometimes be used to help children experience calmer, clearer thinking for periods of time. However, there is debate about  medicating children with ADHD.
 
Source: VOA
 

Olamide James in Nigeria, writes

“Thanks for this  detailed update. It is really encouraging that we can   continually get things done for people with disability in our countries. I want to thank all you wonderful people working at the secretariat to assist us in awareness creation in Nigeria”.
 

 
Upcoming Events

Regional

 
6-7 July
SADPD needs assessment workshop
Location: Rwanda
Contact: Nikiwe@africandecade.co.za
 
11-16 July
SADPD needs assessment workshop
Location: Kenya
Contact: Thomas@africandecade.co.za
 
14-18 July
SADPD in collaboration with Handicap International - adocacy & lobbying workshop for disability inclusion in HIV/AIDS agenda
Location: Mozambique
Contact: Gouwah@africandecade.co.za

23-27 July
SADPD needs assessment workshop
Location: Senegal
Contact: mohamedfall1710@yahoo.fr

 
International

 
2-4 July
Regional Conference on rights of    persons with disabilities
Location: Thailand
 
15 October
International white cane day
 
3 December
International Disability Day

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Helpful websites
Www.afri-can.org                                            
www.motivation.org.uk
www.wheelchairfoundation.org
www.paranet.ch
www.joniandfriends.org
www.africandecade.org.za
 
The Secretariat of African Decade of Persons with Disabilities monthly News Update is circulated monthly. We welcome views and feed back from our readers. Your Reponses will always be published in the next issue. For more information, please contact info@africandecade.co.za
 
Compiled by: Jane Mwangi
Edited by: A. K. Dube