The Soul Beat 217 - Disability and Communication in Africa
In this issue of The Soul Beat:
- DISABILITY PROJECTS using celebrities, advocacy, and theatre...
- STUDIES ON DISABILITY focusing on rights and discrimination...
- SIGN LANGUAGE AND MEDIA GUIDES for communicating around disability...
This issue of The Soul Beat looks at communication and disability in Africa. It includes programme experiences, research reports, and resources that highlight how communication, such as advocacy, theatre, media, and comics, can help to create awareness about disability, promote the rights of people with disabilities, and fight stigma and discrimination faced by people with disabilities.
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DISABILITY PROGRAMMES USING COMMUNICATION
1. Twende Kazi: Transforming Kenya for Children with Disabilities Campaign - Kenya
Launched in November 2012, the Twende Kazi: Transforming Kenya for Children with Disabilities campaign is a Christian Blind Mission (CBM) led initiative developed to promote the inclusion of children with disabilities in society. The campaign works to build engagement and commitment of key players in breaking the cycle of disability and poverty, using Kenyan celebrities to spread the message.
2. Africa Campaign on Disability and HIV and AIDS - Africa
Launched in 2007, the Africa Campaign on Disability and HIV and AIDS is working to reduce the vulnerability of persons with disabilities to the impact of HIV and AIDS. Led by the Secretariat of the African Decade for Disabled Persons and Handicap International, the campaign brings together partners across the continent to work collectively for greater access and involvement of people with disabilities to HIV prevention and treatment. Through face to face discussions, advocacy, publications, and media, the campaign works to raise awareness and influence policy.
3. Restore Children with Disabilities across Community Based Rehabilitation (RESH) - Togo
The RESH project is working to educate and sensitise communities in Togo to prevent discrimination against children with disabilities. The project is doing this through short sketches and plays at local schools, children's clubs, exercise clubs, and parents' clubs. Since 2009, Plan International is working across 16 villages in the Tchamba and Sotouba districts to put an end to stigma and reach out to families with children with disabilities. The goal is to improve the lives of children with disabilities as well as the understanding of communities of the rights of these children.
4. Young Voices: A Global Campaign for Equality - Global
Since 2005, groups of young people aged 16 to 25 with disabilities in 22 countries across in Africa, Asia, and the Americas have come together in Young Voices, a global project that campaigns for countries to sign, ratify, and implement the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), which came into force in 2008. Through interacting with their peers, engaging in advocacy, and producing films, radio programmes, and theatrical productions, young people with disabilities have the chance to share their experiences, to speak out against discrimination, and to influence government decisions that impact on their lives. The campaign is led by Leonard Cheshire Disability.
5. Centre de Production des Programmes et Supports de Sensibilisation des Sourds (CPPS) - DRC
Launched in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in April 2009, the Centre de Production des Programmes et Supports de Sensibilisation des Sourds (CPPS) (loosely translated means "centre for the production of programmes and awareness materials for the deaf") works through theatre and other performance media to address discrimination towards deaf and hearing-impaired people and to educate hearing disabled people about health and social issues. The CPPS performance group is made up of deaf-mute and "hearing" actors, using theatre, music, and video to communicate with both hearing and hearing impaired audiences.
6. Grassroots Comics by Disabled People - Tanzania
In January 2010, Shivyawata Mwanza, an umbrella organisation for disabled people's organisations in Mwanza region, Tanzania, organised a series of four Grassroots Comics workshops for its members. The workshops, implemented by trainers from World Comics Finland with funding from the Finnish Abilis Foundation, were designed to work with disabled people to create a series of short comics that highlight issues related to disability in Tanzania.
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7. Status of Disability Rights in Southern Africa (June, 2012)
By Hermien Kotzé
This report shares the findings from a research project into disability rights in nine countries in southern Africa. Undertaken by the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), in partnership with Open Society Foundations’ Disability Rights Initiative and the Open Society Foundation for South Africa, the research sought to find out detailed country specific information to enable OSISA to assess where the organisation could provide on-going support.
8. Civil Society Advocacy in Uganda: Lessons Learned (November, 2012)
by David Devlin-Foltz
This study analyses cross-cutting issues and lessons learned from four cases outlining sustained advocacy efforts by civil society to influence policy in Uganda. The case studies span a range of issues, time frames, and levels of contribution to the desired policy impact, and demonstrate the role of advocacy in creating conditions for determining social justice, political, and civil liberties, and in giving voice to citizens and historically marginalised groups. Published by the Uganda National Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) Forum and the Aspen Institute, the report intends to show the possibilities for organisations and people to shape public agendas, change public policies, and foster democratic change. One of the case studies is on Disability Advocacy in Uganda and how civic action contributed to or benefited from passage of Uganda's People with Disabilities Act in 2006.
9. Early Childhood Development and Disability: A Discussion Paper (January, 2012)
This discussion paper on issues pertaining to early childhood development (ECD) and disability aims to lay the foundation for a long-term strategic and collaborative process aimed at improving the developmental outcomes, participation, and protection of young children with disabilities. The document is published by the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
10. Prevalence and Risk of Violence against Children with Disabilities: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies (July, 2012)
By Lisa Jones, Mark A. Bellis, Sara Wood, Karen Hughes, Ellie McCoy, Lindsay Eckley, Geoff Bates, Christopher Mikton, Alana Officer, and Tom Shakespeare
This review, published in the Lancet, sought to establish a reliable estimate of the scale of the problem of violence against children with disabilities. A systematic review and meta-analysis to synthesise evidence was chosen as the first step in the development of effective prevention programmes. This review and its companion review on adults with disabilities were carried out by Liverpool John Moores University’s Centre for Public Health, WHO Collaborating Centre for Violence Prevention, and WHO’s Department of Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability. The review found that, overall, children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children.
11. As If We Weren’t Human: Discrimination and Violence Against Women with Disabilities in Northern Uganda (October, 2010)
This report, based on research carried out by Human Rights Watch, describes frequent abuse and discrimination against women and girls with disabilities in Northern Uganda. It argues that women and girls with disabilities are not being afforded equal human rights and are not able to access public services or get basic provisions, both in internally displaced persons (IDP) camps or in their own communities.
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12. Zimbabwe Sexual and Reproductive Health Sign Language Dictionary (December, 2012)
This dictionary for people with hearing impairments includes HIV/AIDS and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) related sign language. It includes an illustrated guide to signing and signing for individual letters, along with illustrations and descriptions for common words and for those new HIV/SRHR signs that have been developed, making it a reference for both those with hearing impairments and those without hearing challenges.
13. Words Matter: Change our World by Changing Your Words (May, 2012)
Published by CBM in Kenya, this leaflet provides information about how to communicate with and about persons with disabilities through use of positive and inclusive language. According to the leaflet, use of negative language leads to exclusion of persons with disabilities and reinforces negative stereotypes, while the use of positive language promotes inclusion by valuing diversity of the human family. The leaflet encourages people to focus on the person not the disability and use neutral language when communicating with and about people with disabilities. The booklet also includes suggestions for appropriate etiquette when interacting with physical, hearing, visual, and learning impairments, as well as key phrases to avoid and their more positive alternatives.
14. Media Guidelines for the Portrayal of Disability (2010)
By Jeannette Sanchez
These International Labour Organization (ILO) Guidelines are intended to provide practical advice to the media on how to promote positive, inclusive images, and the fair and accurate portrayal of women and men with disabilities at all levels of the economy and society. They are intended for people working as editors, journalists, broadcasters, producers, programme makers, and presenters. They are also relevant to people working as web editors, and interactive multimedia products.
15. Ten Commandments of Communicating About People with Intellectual Disabilities (February 2012)
By Mariusz Damentko, Dominika Maison, Krystyna Mrugalska, Janina Paradowska, and Radoslaw Pawelec
Conscious of the powerful role of the media, Special Olympics have developed language guidelines for journalists writing or speaking about people with intellectual disabilities (ID) to ensure that all people are portrayed with individuality and dignity. The purpose of this guide it to be a practical, handy guide for journalists to raise awareness of intellectual disability among journalists and to promote respect, acceptance, inclusion, and human dignity for people with intellectual disabilities.
16. Digital Stories by Disabled People
According to the Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (SADPD), in Africa persons with disabilities continue to face barriers that prevent them from participating as equals in society. To raise awareness of this issue, SADPD produced a series of digital stories of and with persons with disabilities, which portray the real life challenges and successes of parents of children with disabilities and youth with disabilities to claim their rights. The stories were made in South Africa at a workshop with participants from South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, and Mozambique, and were made by the storytellers themselves in their own voices.
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