Nelly Bassily | September 15, 2008
The secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (1999-2009) lists two reasons why it’s important for persons with disabilities to be in the media:
1. It can help the 80 million persons with disabilities in Africa who often experience discrimination to become more visible in their societies. Inequities will become more widely known, as will the positive changes that take place with regards to the rights of persons with disabilities.
2. Persons with disabilities will get the information that they need about services available to them and improvements in national policies and programs. Awareness of services and opportunities are an important first step to actively taking part in society.
You may wish to profile a person with a disability, or a group of disabled persons who work together, on a farm or other business venture. Here are some points to consider:
-Even if a person is well known to the community, an interview can bring out details of their life story that can make an interesting profile. Alternatively, you may be able to introduce your listeners to “invisible people” working in your community.
-If you’re not sure where to find a person or group to profile, try contacting a local disabled persons’ organization for leads.
-Plan your interview as you would any other, asking background questions, details about the person or group’s work, and information on challenges and how they were overcome. Additional interviews (for example, with a long-time customer or a co-worker) can add interest to a story, but be sure that your profile-subject’s own words stay in focus.
-For more information on sensitively portraying disabled people in the media, see this week’s Radio Resource.
The following web resources may also be of interest:
-The secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2000-2009) – an initiative geared toward ensuring full participation, equality, and empowerment of persons with disabilities in Africa: http://www.secretariat.disabilityafrica.org/
-Pan African Federation for the Disabled (PAFOD) – a continental organization of disabled peoples’ organizations: http://www.dpiafro.mr/. PAFOD is organized within five sub-regional federations –WAFOD, SAFOD, CAFOD, EAFOD, and NAFOD – representing West, South, Central, East, and North Africa. The Southern African Federation for the Disabled (SAFOD) has its own website: http://www.safod.org/
-Handicap International: http://www.handicap-international.org/
-African Union for the Blind: http://www.afub-uafa.org/
-Enabling Education Network: http://www.eenet.org.uk/