Articles

Here you will find articles related to the Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities. These articles have been published in our newsletter, Human Rights Africa, or in other media.

The future of the Convention

The United Nations Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities holds tremendous promise for over 600 million persons with disabilities worldwide: the promise of a society without discrimination in education, employment and other areas of life, Gideon Kaino Mandesi said in his speech at the signing ceremony of the Convention. He believes that the convention will receive great support in Africa and says that many countries will have ratified it within a year. By Lina Lindblom.

"The law has been an instrument of our oppression"

For persons with psychosocial disabilities, the new Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities offers a long sought and dramatic shift in legal perspective. It forces governments that have signed it to recognize the legal capacity of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others. Many have been afraid to seek legal assistance, fearing that their rights will be taken away if they acknowledge that they have a psychosocial disability. Now there is hope that this will soon be a thing of the past. David Stolper is one of South Africa’s most active advocates for the human rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities. “The whole world looks at our constitution in South Africa and sees it as the most progressive one for the rights of all people”, he says, “but we in mental health have been totally marginalized”. It is time for a change, and David Stolper is convinced that the new convention is just what the doctor ordered. By Lina Lindblom.

“Making websites open to all is good for business”

As the popularity of the World Wide Web grows, so does the number of disabled people using it. Other media have taken steps to make their content accessible to people with disabilities. Films on DVD and television shows, for example, are closed captioned. Books come in large print, Braille editions and electronic and audio formats. It follows that the content on the web should be accessible too. And yet, few websites can claim that they are truly accessible. By Gouwah Samuels.

How to establish a Decade Steering Committee

National disability movements can take the initiative to establish national Decade Steering Committees. You may request guidelines on how to get started from us. First, read this to find out what a steering committee does.

New Steering Committees to start work in West Africa

Burkina Faso, Mali and Cap Verde are 3 countries in West Africa selected for the establishment of new Decade Steering Committees (DSC). The Secretariat of the African Decade of persons with Disabilities sent a team there from March 19 to April 6, 2007. The mission was to spread information about the Secretariat and its programmes, to learn more about disability in these countries and to facilitate the establishment of DSCs. Aida Sarr has this report.

Do you want to empower women with disabilities?

The Network of African Women with Disabilities is looking for new members. If you are committed to the human rights of women with disabilities, and if you think that you can advocate for their issues at decision-making levels – we want you to join us. By Gouwah Samuels.

The first minister of youth with special needs

A young woman is passionately championing the human rights of youth with disabilities in Kenya through the National Youth Parliament. By Ratula Beukman.

An African Federation of the Deafblind – why?

The Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities supports the establishment of an African Federation of the Deafblind. Lex Grandia is the President of the World Federation of the Deafblind. We asked him to explain why an African federation is needed. He says that nowhere else in the world is it as important for persons who are deafblind to form a strong continental organisation as in Africa. Read his article to find out why.

Lessons learned from lobbying in Uganda

With experience, the Ugandan Disability organisations can look back and see what they did right when lobbying for inclusion in the National Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, and what they should do differently next time. By Ratula Beukman.

A call for participation in social protection debates

Social protection policies, in particular social cash transfer programmes, are currently being developed across Africa with support and interest from governments, donors, and intergovernmental organisations. But, once again, the disability community is not actively participating. By Thomas Ong’olo.

Campaign Update

Gouwah Samuels fills us in on what has happened since the launch of the Africa Campaign on Disability and HIV & AIDS.

Grassroots initiatives fill a gap in the official approach to HIV

This article was published under the title "HIV strategies ignore the disabled" in the Cape Times, a South African daily newspaper, on March 29, 2007 (www.capetimes.co.za) and on the IOL website, www.iolhivaids.co.za.

Moving from words to implementation in the struggle for human rights

This article was published on October 4 2006 in the online publication Pambazuka News, under the headline "Protecting the rights of the disabled". Pambazuka news is "a weekly forum for social justice in Africa" (www.pambazuka.org).