International Service advocates for change in two ways:
Focusing on our main issue, working in the UK, Europe
and the “north” around issues that matter to development, with the support of
our project partners.
Throughout 2003 and our 50th Anniversary, our main issue is
Disability Rights - Mainstreaming Disability in
Development.
This will build on the
international conference held in 2001:
Disability Rights, A Global Concern.
Focusing on issues significant to our partner organisations in programme
countries, we support advocacy work happening in the South.
This may be through:
sharing skills in advocacy with a partner organisation, as in work COPJT in Mali, for the rights of young domestic workers
drawing attention to the messages of our partners, as in the call for humanitarian access to the Occupied Palestinian Territories to ensure that the terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention are met
support through funding and skills-sharing for a major partner initiative, for example for the rights and in particular right to health care of indigenous women in Amazonas in Brazil.
Go to Disabled People in Mali
Go to A Global Concern, Disability Rights
Conference 2001
Go to Mainstreaming Disability in
Development, Disability Rights Conference 2003
Led by International Service, a 2001 International Conference calling for a UN Convention on the rights of People with Disabilities agreed the following statement:
We are all committed to a comprehensive convention
on the rights of disabled persons. Recognising those governments already
supporting a convention, we call upon all governments and the host UK government
in particular, to support a convention.
We also commit ourselves to do all we can through the channels available to us
to campaign for a convention.”
Since that Conference, initial discussions have begun on a UN Convention and the EU has sent a message in support of such a convention. Watch this page for updates on progress towards a convention.
For a full report of the conference held in 2001, see Disability Rights, A Global Concern
By Moumouni Diarra Executive Director
Introduction
Disabled people are estimated to make up about 10% of the overall population
and in general form the underclass of Malian society: the poorest of the
poor. The national federation, la FEMAPH (la Fédération Malienne des
Associations de Personnes Handicapéés) represents the disabled movement via
its different associations by lobbying the state to protect and promote the
fundamental rights of disabled people.
The goal of this document is to provide a brief description of the Malian
disabled movement, recall some of its accomplishments, present its
weaknesses and obstacles, and to conclude with a discussion of the
movement’s future prospects and directions.
The
Disabled Movement in Mali
The
impetus for the creation of the disabled movement came from disabled people
themselves beginning in 1970, when several associations were founded with
the support of the government to promote rights and services for disabled
people. This trend intensified during 1981, the International Year of the
Disabled Person, and throughout the Decade of Disabled Persons (1983-1992).
For over a quarter of a century, these community associations have played a
crucial role in implementing public policies in favour of people with
disabilities. It is their initiatives which have provided ongoing
information and awareness building to the public, to disabled people and
their families, and to the public decision-making bodies, not only in order
to changes attitudes towards disability, but also to ensure that the needs
and concerns of disabled people are taken into account at all levels of
national life.
These disability associations have also created special education
institutions, recognizing that education is a fundamental right for all
children, including children with special needs. It is necessary to add as
well that that disabled movement has also played an important role in
relieving the extreme poverty of some of its members through its initiatives
to promote their social and economic integration into the community.
In Mali today, in addition to many local associations, there are 15 national associations, all of which are members of the national federation, FEMAPH, created in May 1982.
Achievements
The associations which make up the disabled movements have acquired
extensive experience as pressure groups and lobbyists for the rights of
disabled people. Disabled people in Mali have demonstrated a commitment to
the principles of self-help and to participating actively in the
decision-making processes that concern them.
There exist in Mali today several permanent institutions dedicated to
providing services to people with disabilities. There also exists in Mali a
number of enterprises to promote the socio-economic integration of disabled
people. Mali has ratified the International Labour Organization’s convention
159 concerning professional rehabilitation and employment for people with
disabilities.
Many young, disabled graduates have been recruited within both the public
service and the private sector. The disabled movement has created a very
dynamic national sports federation for people with disabilities. In terms of
communication, there is a weekly disability-issues radio program on the
national radio network entitled Solidarity Tribune.
Shortcomings, Challenges and Barriers
There exists no clearly defined, specific government policy or strategy to
promote the advancement of people with disabilities. There are no laws or
legislation in Mali to ensure equal opportunities or to protect people with
disabilities.
There is almost a complete absence of essential services for people with
disabilities outside of the capital city, Bamako. Communication between the
disabled movement and the operational structures of the government ministry
responsible for disabled persons is sorely lacking. Very few disabled
children attend school (less than 1% of disabled children have access to
education).
The high cost of institutional care for disabled people and the lack of
trained personnel prohibit people with disabilities from receiving proper
care. Social prejudices and traditional beliefs promote negative images and
stereotypes about disabilities and people with disabilities.
The high costs of educational materials, orthopaedic appliances and
technical aides (generally imported) create a lack of access for many people
with disabilities. Despite the talent and determination of many disabled
athletes, most sports equipment is either poorly adapted for the terrain or
is lacking altogether.
Future Prospects and a Call for International Solidarity
In the coming years the disabled movement in Mali will be looking to its
partners for a multi-faceted support. This might include institutional,
organisational and operational capacity building of local and national
organizations of people with disabilities; support in achieving the adoption
of government legislation to protect and promote the rights of disabled
people and support for initiatives which promote the use of local materials
and the local production of technical aides and education materials in order
to reduce the prohibitive costs, to mention just a few.
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Conference 2001
Over 100 people attended the June 2001 Conference held in London at which international representatives of organisations working with people with disabilities called for a UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Click here for a full Conference Report.
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International Service held Mainstreaming Disability in Development, its
second conference focusing on disability, on 11-12 November. The
conference was attended by over 120 people from 20 different countries and
funded by the European Year of Disabled People.
For more information and materials about the conference,
click
here
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COPJT is an umbrella organisation linking nearly thirty smaller organisations all of which offer young domestic workers training, protection against exploitation and health and social facilities.
Heather Johnston is an IS development worker placed with COPJT, and working to strengthen the organisation in a number of ways. Here is her story.
In Canada, she worked with people with disabilities. She did that in Mali, West Africa, for two years with International Service.
Then she heard of another project and decided to delay her return to North America to work with young girls who come to Mali’s urban areas to work as maids.
They are called bonnes in French-speaking West Africa: young girls who come to the urban areas, especially to Mali’s capital city Bamako, to work as domestics for urban families.
How do these girls come to be domestic workers? Their families cannot afford to keep them at home; opportunities always appear greater in urban areas than in rural villages; family ties mean that the care of young people is transferred to another part of the extended family. A bonne may be working for her extended family.
Once in the city, a bonne’s life is determined by the care she receives from her host family. At best, she may have the chances for education and protection that the family would give their own daughter. At worst, she may work long hours for a tiny wage and meet with physical and sexual abuse.
International Service works with a partner organisation that links a number of agencies working for the rights and protection of young domestic workers in Mali.
The range of solutions offered to the mistreatment of bonnes includes protection through the legal system for girls that have been mistreated; evening classes in literacy and domestic skills; health care extending to maternity care for those who become pregnant as the result of abuse.
COPJT, the umbrella group of agencies, has recently been formed and has secured funding from Comic Relief.
Now Heather Johnston is working with COPJT as a “capacity builder”. She is using her skills and experience to help COPJT with the planning and evaluating, the training and fundraising that will make it a more effective organisation.
Every day she sees the work of COPJT’s member organisations and the real-life situations faced by young domestic workers.
Asked recently why she stayed in West Africa with International Service,
Heather said, “it’s the chance of a lifetime to work in a developing country, at
the grassroots.”
For the young domestic workers helped by COPJT and its member organisations,
it is a lifetime chance to improve the way you live and the life you have.
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Ann Brunborg, IS Field Director in Palestine, knows first-hand how people
living and trying to work in occupied territories suffer when access to health
care, to education and even food and shelter are hampered by checkpoints, by
curfews and by military activity.
This is her message:
"We have been deeply saddened by the tragic events of recent months and the suffering inflicted on the lives of so many of our friends, colleagues and partners in Palestine. "
"International Service has a long history of solidarity with and support for
the Palestinian people. As well as the human suffering, there has been massive
destruction caused to infrastructure and property in Gaza and the West Bank, and
also to the ministries and local organisations that facilitate our work".
“Some of our partner organisations’ offices have been damaged or destroyed, and some have had to temporarily suspend ongoing projects. Some projects have had to be reoriented to meet the most immediate local needs for food, shelter and medical care".
“At a time when the needs of ordinary Palestinians are greater than ever, we find our work increasingly difficult. Israeli-imposed curfews and checkpoints prevent us and our partner organisations from getting to work or travelling to sites in the field. Hours, even entire workdays, are spent at checkpoints; offices have been closed for weeks on end; communication links are cut; staff members are confined to their homes".
“The British Government, like its EU partners, considers Gaza and the West
Bank to be occupied territories that Israel is obliged to administer under the
terms of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Those terms prohibit the destruction of
property and the denial of access to food, health and education, among other
things".
“We call on people to send a letter, fax or email to Jack Straw MP,
Foreign Secretary, asking him to ensure that Israel abides by the terms of the
Fourth Geneva Convention.”
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Nearly one third of Brazil’s people live in poverty while statistics place it as the world’s ninth richest country. The divide between rich and poor is more extreme than in smaller, poorer countries.
Rural women, particularly those in the Amazonian States, are among the
poorest. International Service has selected a project for its 50th Anniversary
Appeal that helps to raise the collective voice of some of Brazil’s poorest
women . . . and raise their level of health care.
Women have the right to health care and information about maintaining their own
and their family’s health. This is the basic belief behind the Anniversary
Appeal Project from Brazil. International Service has worked through volunteer
health professionals and Brazilian health care providers in the Amazonian States
for many years. Now we have been asked by the Women’s Secretariat of the Rubber
Tappers Council to help them tackle one of the most difficult challenges:
bringing information about health and nutrition to the women living in the
forests.
What is the Rubber Tappers Council? Founded in 1985 during the first national
meeting of rubber tappers, the Council was formed to protect the forest and the
people who depend on it from devastation by multinational interests.
The grassroots movement represents a whole range of forest peoples, not just those who extract rubber.
Fishermen, agricultural workers, women who collect babaçu (a variety of coconut), people who depend on other forest products: all benefit from the Council’s work to defend the historic rights of the people whose lives are linked to the forest.
What does the Rubber Tappers Council do? Included in the aims of the Council are:
to represent the interests of rubber tappers, river communities and rural workers of the Amazon.
to work for the immediate improvement of the quality of life of the forest people: including health and education services and workers’ co-operatives.
to promote cultural displays that value the art, folklore and crafts of the region, preserving the traditional way of life of the forest people.
The Women’s Secretariat of the Rubber Tappers Council works with the rural women in all eight of the Amazonian States, Amazonas, Pará, Acre, Amapá, Rondônia, Roraima, Tocantins and Mato Grosso. The specific aim is to help them recognise their rights and to encourage them to find greater security and well-being for themselves and their families. This involves many things: extending economic activity, improving diets through growing a greater variety of foods, a better understanding of basic health care.
The women of Brazil, like women in many other developing countries, earn less and are more frequently unemployed than are the men.
Assisting women, particularly in rural areas, is an investment in the well-being of the whole population: women are the main carers of children and families. Many rural women have little knowledge of basic health issues, including the functioning of their own and their children’s bodies. They may have no idea of their rights concerning health care. International Service plans to begin work with the Women’s Secretariat to strengthen their ability to respond to this need.
Working through community meetings, workshops and educational materials, the project plan is to bring health information in ways that are accessible and relevant. Transportation costs are an important part of the budget, given the extent of the Amazonian States: some women are reachable only by plane. An International Service development worker who is a qualified health professional will be sought to work with the Secretariat.