Africa

In 2009 took a strategic decision to carry out some of its programming in Africa, knowing that the root causes of stigma are similar to Europe, and that many of the legal advocacy methodologies which we have used in Europe could equally be useful in Africa.

Current situation

Discrimination against people with intellectual disabilities and people with psycho-social (mental health) disabilities is high in Africa. Stigma and discrimination are exacerbated by poverty, given that eighty percent of people with disabilities live in developing countries. The Africa Union recognised that the situation needs continued attention, and extended the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (due to finish in 2009) to 2019. The need to strengthen human rights implementation of people with disabilities is a widely-shared view among policy-makers in Africa.

Although development funding has often been given with good intentions, much of the programmes are not inclusive of or accessible to people with disabilities. There are still schools being built which are not accessible to learners, teachers and parents with disabilities. This situation is addressed by Article 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

People with psycho-social (mental health) disabilities are viewed by many societies as being possessed by the devil. The response by some church leaders is to exorcise the spirits out. Some traditional healers beat the spirits out of the demonised person. These traditional practices, coupled with a lack of awareness-raising programmes, and community-based services, constitute major obstacles to reform.

In many African countries there are out-dated colonial laws, many which still use terms such as “lunatics” and “idiots”. These facilitate human rights abuses directly, and contribute to stigma and discrimination indirectly. There are fortunately few psychiatric institutions, but in those which do exist there is much abuse, physical restraint, and exploitation, yet little treatment and rehabilitation. Access to justice is almost unheard of for people with intellectual disabilities and psycho-social (mental health) disabilities. The political invisibility of people with disabilities  and their exclusion from political participation, is startling. Girls and women with disabilities face multiple discrimination in many areas of life.

In order to address the specifics on the issue, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights is currently drafting an Africa Disability Protocol. At continental level, the Pan-African Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry is currently working on strengthening its capacity, as is Inclusion Africa, the regional organisation for people with intellectual disabilities.

People with disabilities traditionally do not use courts to seek justice. There is one regional level human rights case (Moore v. the Gambia) where the applicant was a British mental health professional on vacation in Gambia.

MDAC activities

Strategic litigation: MDAC is working with attorneys in East Africa to develop strategic cases of rights violations against persons with psycho-social disabilities and persons with intellectual disabilities. Please contact us if you would like to assist in developing these cases.

Advocacy: In February 2011 MDAC submitted its written comments to the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Draft African Disability Protocol which is currently being drafted by the working group on the rights of older persons and persons with disabilities in Africa . MDAC is working with the Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities to track progress. MDAC continues to build relationship with disabled people’s organisations (DPOs), and other human rights organisations at domestic, continental and international levels for effective implementation of the CRPD advocacy in Africa.

Research and monitoring: MDAC is carrying out research on the right to legal capacity in Kenya and will at the end of 2011 release a report on these issues. MDAC is also investigating how some forms of traditional healing violate the right to be free from torture and ill-treatment of people with psycho-social disabilities. In 2011 MDAC started a research project in conjunction with support from the Seattle University School of Law to look at how girls and women with psycho-social (mental health) disabilities are at risk of multiple forms of discrimination compared to similarly situated boys and men.

Capacity-building: In February 2012 MDAC held a capacity-building event for litigators and disabled people’s organisations in East Africa and is strengthening the capacity of all possible stakeholders on the rights of persons with disabilities. This follows various capacity-building interventions, such as a Central African sub-regional workshop on the CRPD organised by Sight-savers International in Cameroon, Ministry of Social Affairs in Cameroon and the OHCHR in Central Africa in November 2010 and a session on the challenges of implementing the right to legal capacity in Africa at an Inclusion Africa regional forum on the CRPD in March 2011.