06 January 2009
Disabled people are often among the poorest of the poor, and their status isn't helped by the many aid agencies who leave them out of their development strategies. But for one particular agency in Burkina Faso, the story is a very different one.
Handicap Solidaire Burkina (HSB) is a DFID-supported organisation that wants to make sure that disabled people are included in the country’s development. And to demonstrate that disability is no barrier to leading a full and productive life, its staff, all of whom are disabled, lead by example.
Reading, writing and motivating
Freddy Ouédraogo, HSB’s literacy co-ordinator, has been disabled since birth. Wheelchair-user Freddy was fortunate to have a neighbour who was willing to sponsor his education, enabling him to get to university and train as a teacher. But Freddy is one of the lucky few: fewer than 2% of disabled children go to school in Burkina Faso, which has the worst literacy rates in the world.
Freddy now runs workshops that teach reading and writing skills to disabled people who have missed out on an education. Over time, the workshops have grown in popularity, and Freddy has succeeded in motivating the students not just to learn to read and write, but to find out more about their human rights.
If disabled people are to occupy a proper role in society, they need to know about their rights and entitlements - as do policymakers.
In 2007, HSB set up a disability rights project, supported by DFID and the development agency International Service. This has focused on providing rights training to charities and giving disabled people a bigger voice in government and charity initiatives.
The project has also begun to build an information network comprising local disabled organisations, with a quarterly newsletter keeping people abreast of any developments. A drop-in centre has also been opened, where people can pick up information on career opportunities and health, as well as rights advice.
The project is now spurring on further changes, with charities beginning to take active steps to include disability in their development processes. When Burkina Faso signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People in 2007 a major breakthrough occurred, but only when the country's disabled people are creating their own development projects will the vision of HSB and its dedicated members like Freddy Ouédraogo be realised.
Facts and stats
- Funding for the Disability Rights Project comes from Irish Aid (75%) and International Service (25%).
- The project is costing €602,545 and is part of a larger Irish Aid programme running from October 2007 to September 2010.
- The International Service component was sourced from their Partnership Programme Arrangement (PPA) with DFID. Under this PPA, DFID provided International Service with £1,470,000 for 2007-8. In 2008-9, funding will rise to £1,514,100.
- According to Handicap International, 7% of Burkina Faso's 14 million people are thought to be disabled.
