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Success in Africa: People with disabilities share their stories

SHAKESPEARE, Tom
MUGEERE, Anthony
NYARIKI, Emily
SIMBAYA, Joseph
2019

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Background: Whereas most narratives of disability in sub-Saharan Africa stress barriers and exclusion, Africans with disabilities appear to show resilience and some appear to achieve success. In order to promote inclusion in development efforts, there is a need to challenge narratives of failure.

 

Objectives: To gather life histories of people with disabilities in three sub-Saharan African countries (Kenya, Uganda and Sierra Leone) who have achieved economic success in their lives and to analyse factors that explain how this success has been achieved.

 

Methods: Qualitative research study of economic success involving life history interviews with 105 participants with disabilities from both urban and rural settings recruited through disabled people’s organisations and non-governmental organisation partners, framework analysis of transcripts to chart success and success factors.

 

Results: Participants had faced barriers in education, employment and family life. They had largely surmounted these barriers to achieve success on an equal basis with others. They were working in private and public sectors and were self-employed farmers, shopkeepers and craftspeople.

 

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that, given the right support, disabled people can achieve economic success, with the implication being that investment in education or training of disabled people can be productive and should be part of overall development efforts for economic reasons, not solely to achieve social justice goals.

 

 

African Journal of Disability, Vol 8, 2019

Learning From Experience: Guidelines for locally sourced and cost-effective strategies for hygiene at home for people with high support needs.

World Vision/CBM Australia
May 2018

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This learning resource is the result of a partnership between World Vision Australia and CBM Australia that aims to improve inclusion of people with disabilities in World Vision’s Water, Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) initiatives, including in Sri Lanka. The guidelines are based on experiences and observations from World Vision’s implementation of the Rural Integrated WASH 3 (RIWASH 3) project in Jaffna District, Northern Province, funded by the Australian Government’s Civil Society WASH Fund 2. The four year project commenced in 2014. It aimed to improve the ability of WASH actors to sustain services, increase adoption of improved hygiene practices, and increase equitable use of water and sanitation facilities of target communities within 11 Grama Niladari Divisions (GNDs) in Jaffna District.

To support disability inclusion within the project, World Vision partnered with CBM Australia. CBM Australia has focused on building capacities of partners for disability
inclusion, fostering connections with local Disabled People’s Organisations, and providing technical guidance on disability inclusion within planned activities. World Vision also partnered with the Northern Province Consortium of the Organizations for the Differently Abled (NPCODA) for disability assessment, technical support and capacity building on inclusion of people with disabilities in the project.

HYGIENE AT HOME FOR PEOPLE WITH HIGH SUPPORT NEEDS
This document is one of two developed in the Jaffna District and describes strategies that used to assist households and individuals in hygiene tasks at home. The strategies were designed to be low cost and were developed using locally available materials and skills in the Jaffna District of Sri Lanka.

NOTE: The development of this learning resource was funded by the Australian Government's Civil Society WASH Fund 2.

Disability inclusion in higher education in Uganda: Status and strategies

EMONG, Paul
ERON, Lawrence
2016

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Background: Uganda has embraced inclusive education and evidently committed itself to bringing about disability inclusion at every level of education. Both legal and non-legal frameworks have been adopted and arguably are in line with the intent of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) on education. The CRPD, in Article 24, requires states to attain a right to education for persons with disabilities without discrimination and on the basis of equal opportunities at all levels of education.


Objectives: Despite Uganda’s robust disability legal and policy framework on education, there is evidence of exclusion and discrimination of students with disabilities in the higher education institutions. The main objective of this article is to explore the status of disability inclusion in higher education and strategies for its realisation, using evidence from Emong’s study, workshop proceedings where the authors facilitated and additional individual interviews with four students with disabilities by the authors.


Results: The results show that there are discrimination and exclusion tendencies in matters related to admissions, access to lectures, assessment and examinations, access to library services, halls of residence and other disability support services.

 

Conclusion: The article recommends that institutional policies and guidelines on support services for students with disabilities and special needs in higher education be developed, data on students with disabilities collected to help planning, collaboration between Disabled Peoples Organisations (DPO’s) strengthened to ensure disability inclusion and the establishment of disability support centres.

A guide for community health workers supporting children with disabilities

ADAMS, Mel
et al
2014

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"This resource is to be used as a guide for Community Health Workers (CHWs) to support parents in promoting the development and independence of their child with neurodevelopmental disabilities...In line with current thinking, this resource places the emphasis on promoting activity and participation in a child’s daily life activities rather than therapies that try to fix ‘the problem’ (Skelton and Rosenbaum, 2010). As such, this manual provides ideas on how to support the child during activities of daily living – taking particular account of their physical and communication abilities and needs – and does not include hands-on rehabilitation techniques that focus on specific impairments. It does however provide guidance on overall management and prevention of further disability. The materials in this manual can be used as the basis for a programme of intervention that progresses through two stages"

Note: As indicated when clicking on the resource link below, the manual is available once contact details are entered or alternatively user can contact mel@maits.org.uk to receive a free pdf copy of this resource

Illiteracy among adults with disabilities in the developing world: A review of the literature and a call for action

GROCE, Nora
BAKHSHI, Parul
2011

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In the early 1990s, UNESCO estimated that perhaps 97% of the world's 650 million disabled persons were unable to read or write, leading to significant efforts throughout the developing world to ensure that all children with disabilities attended school through ‘inclusive education’ programmes. But what of the vast majority of persons with disabilities who now are adolescents or adults, well beyond the reach of classroom education, or the estimated 90% of disabled children who will still ‘age out’ of the system before such inclusive education is available in their communities? In this paper, we review findings from a global literature search on literacy of adults with disability in developing countries which shows that there is currently little in international development, education, health or disability research policies or programmes that addresses this issue. On the basis of these findings we argue that while inclusive education efforts for children are important, more attention also needs to be directed to providing literacy skills to illiterate and marginally literate disabled adolescents and adults.

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