The situation of persons with disabilities is different from one country in Africa to another, but it has a common denominator: poverty. The living conditions of disabled persons are similar in Burkina, Mali and Cap Verde in terms of the gap existing between persons with disabilities in urban and rural areas. Poverty reduction is an overall goal here, as most persons with disabilities come from the poorest segments of society.

Intentions and national policies are generally good. However, although many initiatives have been launched by governments and international agencies and funds for persons with disabilities exist, the impact is always limited. The strategies and programs do not meet the needs.

The government of each visited country understands the situation of persons with disabilities and the need to include disability in government policies and programs. With effective and efficient DSCs in place, it will be much easier for the governments to identify the most urgent matters facing persons with disabilities in these countries and to work in a coordinated manner with other stakeholders to address them.

A visit to four government ministries and meetings with 33 stakeholders in the 3 countries were on the top of our agenda. Those 33 stakeholders, including representatives of governments, DPOs, International NGOs, donor agencies, religious institutions, trade unions and media all expressed their willingness to be actively part of the Decade Steering Committees. They all understand the mission and the programme of the Secretariat and the necessity to have an effective DSC for the implementation of the Decade.

A plan of action for the way forward has been discussed in each country and submitted to the Minister in charge of the coordination of disability issues and actions. The government of each of the three countries has recognized the work of the Secretariat and its role, and they have committed themselves to work with us for the implementation of the Decade Plan of Action.
 
The Secretariat’s mandate, which is linked to the Continental Plan of Action of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities, is concerned with three key areas that embrace capacity building, awareness making and advocacy and lobbying. To cover the 53 countries of the African Union (AU), the Secretariat has recently opened a regional office in Dakar for the implementation of its programmes in West, Central and North Africa. The target countries for our office in Senegal this year are Rwanda, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cap Verde, Gambia, Cameroon, Chad, Tunisia, Guinea and Togo.

The lack of sufficient human and financial resources of all governments as well as the DPOs are certainly a challenge for West Africa. The fact that governments do not prioritise disability issues while formulating and implementing their programmes is another challenge.

The new Decade Steering Committees in Burkina Faso, Mali and Cap Verde will now assign some 8-10 persons to constitute a management committee and a full-time coordinator. Thereafter the DSC and the Secretariat of the African Decade will enter into a Memorandum of Understanding that will stipulate how we collaborate in the future. Central to this collaboration will be building capacity in the DSC, undertaking advocacy and lobbying work towards donors and legislators and to create awareness around disability as a human rights issue.

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Where are the Decade Steering Committees?

The Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities have facilitated the establishment of DSCs in five pilot countries, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Senegal. In the beginning of 2007, the Secretariat have initiated DSCs in Burkina, Cap Verde, Mali and Namibia. We have also supported the one in Mauritania. We will continue with Burundi and Tanzania in May, and plans have also been made for Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Gambia, Lesotho, Malawi, Tunisia and Zambia during this year.

There are steering committees or similar structures in a number of countries where the Secretariat of the African Decade have not yet been involved, such as Madagascar, Uganda, Sudan and Zimbabwe. 

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This article was published in Human Rights Africa number 2, 2007.