The Malawi roundtable brought together a group of highly experienced people from a wide range of organisations and countries. The 35 participants created a vibrant, productive atmosphere for the three-day event. Useful ideas were contributed to the forum and the group shared many positive experiences. Participants used the time to network and build up support between organisations.
Five of the participants were interviewed in Malawi; here they share their views on disability and development and their thoughts on the roundtable.
Gladys
Charowa, Executive Director – Disabled Women Support Organisation,
Zimbabwe
Gladys Charowa has been involved in the disability movement since February 2002 when she attended a rehabilitation centre in Harare and experienced the conditions tolerated by the women staying there.
She decided to set up the Disabled Women Support Organisation (DWSO) after helping some of the patients at the centre; for example, she successfully petitioned an education exam board to allow a student with disabilities additional time to sit her exams. Gladys wanted to challenge the traditional view that there is nothing that can be done to support women and girls who are spinally injured.
DWSO works alongside hospitals, often in rural areas, to provide support for individuals and their families to become both physically and financially independent; this includes training to sensitise the community, peer group education and micro-finance projects. DWSO is one of the first disability organisations to have projects in each of the 10 provinces of Zimbabwe.
DWSO also works with schools, setting up Disability Clubs and projects to help children and parents to increase their understanding of the needs of disabled people.
Gladys felt the roundtable had been good place to share experiences and recommendations. She found that it had enabled her to see the bigger picture of where her work fits within poverty reduction.
David
Jaidi, Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi (FEDOMA)
At the time of the roundtable, David Jaidi had just been appointed Deputy Director of Special Needs Education for the Malawi government. He is very active in the disability movement, being a member of FEDOMA and also the Vice Chairman of the Malawi Union of the Blind. His appointment to the government was not his first contact with politics however: in May 2004 he stood as a Member of Parliament and although he was not elected he used his campaign to successfully raise awareness of the disability movement.
David was very interested in the theme of the roundtable, Disability, Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals. He felt it helped DPOs to reaffirm their positions and provided useful information for them to use to influence governments. Exposure to the debates on engaging decision makers at an international level had enriched his experience and widened his knowledge of the field.
Ssennoga
Martin, Programme Coordinator - National Union of the Disabled Persons
of Uganda (NUDIPU)
Ssennoga Martin has been working with NUDIPU as a programme coordinator for two years. He works with NUDIPU members to assess their needs and devise ways of meeting their requirements. His role is to mobilise resources for various disability activities.
In June 2004 NUDIPU submitted recommendations to the Ugandan government for integrating the needs of disabled people in the revised Poverty Eradication and Reduction Plan (PEAP). The work took NUDIPU and its two partners - the Ugandan Society for Disabled Children, and Action on Disability and Development - nearly three years to complete and involved close consultation with a number of stakeholders including disability groups. NUDIPU was keen to take advantage of the opportunity to shape the future of government policy interventions and to ensure disabled people were integrated in Uganda’s development process. At the time of the roundtable NUDIPU was waiting for a formal response from the Ugandan government.
Ssennoga Martin was keen to share NUDIPU’s experiences at the roundtable. He urged other DPOs to find ways to lobby governments and encouraged them to include disabled people in poverty reduction strategies; for example in education, employment and the accessibility of services and information. He was keen to stress how to work ‘with’ governments and support them in developing positive positions for disabled people at a national level.
Henry
Nyamubi, Executive Director - Kilimanjaro Association of the Spinally
Injured (KASI)
As the Executive Director of KASI, Henry Nyambi seeks to raise awareness of spinally injured people in Tanzania and promote their needs within the general disability movement. He noted that good progress has been made to increase understanding between organisations like KASI and larger support bodies.
KASI was established in 1994 to address the issues of spinally injured people, as well as those of other disabled people. Henry felt that while there was little support available, if the right treatment was provided many people could survive to lead healthy, productive lives.
Henry spent time studying Disability and Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) at the Institute of Child Health, UK, and has led many CBR initiatives that have integrated disabled people back into their communities. Often KASI nurtures relationships over a number of years, supporting people to live in their own homes.
Henry felt that the roundtable had provided a great opportunity to network with other organisations similar to KASI and learn about their experiences. It had also been useful have contact with larger organisations such as the Southern African Federation of the Disabled, who are very receptive to single impairment DPOs.
Thomas
Ong’olo, Deputy Chief Executive Officer – The Secretariat
of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (ADD)
At the time of the roundtable Thomas Ong’olo had
been the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Secretariat for three months,
having moved to South Africa from Kenya to take up the position. Having
been active in the disability movement since a young age, Thomas worked
with Africa Union of the Blind for the last 10 years, before joining the
Secretariat. Thomas saw the creation of the secretariat as a necessary
development if it was to succeed in rolling out a focused programme on
disability.
The secretariat is working in three core areas:
- Capacity building for Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs)
- Knowledge sharing between countries – including DPOs, governments, and civil society organisations
- Promotion of the formulation and implementation of policies and legislation on disability
Thomas’s work centres on setting up the systems to run programmes, developing policies for ADD, creating networks for projects and establishing a steering committee.
Thomas recognised many parallels between the roundtable and the work of the Secretariat. The discussions were useful to feed into ADD’s programme. He felt the roundtable raised more questions than it answered but there were opportunities to focus on solutions.
