The African Decade of Persons with Disabilities

The Special Rapporteur has the mandate to monitor the implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and to advance the status of persons with disabilities globally.


The Secretariat
The Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (SADPD), opened its office in Cape Town in 2004. This decision was taken during the Disability African Regional Consultative Conference held in May 2003 in Johannesburg. The task of setting up the Secretariat was initiated by continental DPOs with the mandate and support of the African union and the South African government.

Secretariat Mandate
The Secretariat's mandate is to facilitate the implemenatation of the Continetal Plan of Action by governments, disability organisations and non-governmental organisations.

Programmes
The Secretaraiat has five key programmes. They include: - HIV/AIDS, Youth and Children, Gender, Law Policy and Livelihood Opposrtunities and PRSP.

Its programmes started in Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda and Sénégal. Since then, we have facilitated the establishment of new Decade Steering Committees in 16 other African countries. These countries are Namibia, South Africa, Cameroon, Burundi, Tanzania, Egypt, mauritania, Senegal, mali, Cape Verde, Ghana, Togo, Zambia, Gambia, Guinea and Burkina Faso. The SADPD intends to extend the scope of its work in all of the 53 AU member states.

Mission
The mission of the Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities is to empower governments, Decade Steering Committees, Disabled Person’s Organisations and development organisations to work in partnership to include disability and persons with disabilities into policies and programs in all sectors of society in Africa. Our work is especially focused on capacity building, advocacy and lobbying and awareness raising.

Appointment of UN Special Rapporteur on Disability
The Secretariat of the African Decade for Persons with Disabilities (SADPD) would like to congratulate Mr. Shuaib Chalklen (South Africa) on his appointment as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability.

The Special Rapporteur has the mandate to monitor the implementation of the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and to advance the status of persons with disabilities globally. Mr. Chalklen’s appointment as the third Special Rapporteur comes after that of Mr. Bengt Lindqvist (Sweden) who served from 1994 to 2002 and Sheikha Hessa Khalifa bin Ahmed al-Thani (Qatar), who served from 2003 to June 2009.

Mr. Chalklen is a former CEO of The SADPD who served from 2003 to 2006 and has worked as a Head of the Office on the Status of Persons with Disabilities (OSDP) in South Africa from (1996-2001). Mr. Chalklen is also a world-renowned disability and human rights activist.

Mr Chalklen’s appointment is for the period 2009 -2011. The SADPD commits to working with Mr. Chalklen and wish him a successful tenure as Special Rapporteur on Disability.

Disability in Africa
Every day in Africa, many people are disabled by malnutrition and diseases, environmental hazards, natural disasters, traffic and industrial accidents, civil conflict and war. At minimum, people with disabilities comprise 10% of any population - in Africa therefore, the total would be at least 60 million people.

As a concomitant of improvements in child survival, the numbers of children surviving with disabilities are increasing.

As more Africans survive to older age, the numbers of elderly people with disabilities are rising.

The vast majority of Africans with disabilities are excluded from schools, opportunities to work and participate in poverty reduction programs, virtually guaranteeing that they will live out their lives as the poorest of the poor.

The social stigma associated with disability results in marginalization and isolation, often leading to begging as the sole means of survival.A consequence of living in poverty with a disability is inadequate access to health services, resulting frequently in serious secondary conditions and general deterioration of the quality of life. Additional complications are caused by inaccessible health services and lack of knowledge about health implications of disabling conditions.

Continental Plan of Action
The Continental Plan of Action of the African Decade is designed at implementing priority activities on disability during the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (1999-2009). The aim of the African Decade Continental Action Plan is to provide guidance to Governments, African Rehabilitation Institute (ARI), The Secretariat of the African Decade, Disabled Persons Organizations and civil society in furthering the goals of full participation, equality and empowerment of people with disabilities in Africa.

The Plan of Action is implemented by lobbying the respective governments in consultation with Disabled People's Organizations, to develop and reformulate national disability policies, programs, legislation and disability Strategies. The vision of the Plan is the integration of disability into fiscal planning processes, in order for persons with disabilities to exercise their right, to a full participatory role in society. Governments and State organs will take full responsibility for the successful implementation of the Decade Plan of Action.

The Action Plan was formally endorsed by the seventy-sixth ordinary session of the OAU Council of Ministers, held at Durban (28 June - 6 July 2002) by Decision CM/DEC.676 (LXXVI) and at its first ordinary session, the Executive Council of the African Union, meeting at Durban (9-10 July 2002), similarly endorsed the "Plan of Action for the African Decade of People with Disabilities" in its regulation 7 "African Decade of Disabled Persons."

Throughout the Plan, the terms people with disabilities, disabled persons and disabled people are used interchangeably, reflecting accepted usage in different countries. Similarly, the OAU and AU are used interchangeably in view of the transition of the OAU to the AU.

The Plan above all seeks to develop a greater awareness and a positive stance to disability in all sectors of society, by unwaveringly evocating and improving the current economic and social position of persons with disabilities.

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