To many people, the 3rd December is a busy day preparing for Christmas. Maybe you’ll go shopping. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll think about going shopping and then put it off until a later day when you’ve got to get a tonne of presents in a couple of hours! But 3rd December is a day of huge significance – it’s World Disability Day. It’s a day where we focus on working towards an inclusive world which has equity of opportunity at its heart.
10% of the world’s population is disabled and 80% of disabled people live in the developing world. But across much of the developing world, particularly in Africa, disabled people are isolated due to the negative attitudes surrounding disability.
The isolation of disabled people leads to many individuals having no social interaction, no education, no medical care and often no food. Many disabled people are left alone in a room, sometimes chained up.
Despite the fact that disabled people make up the world’s largest minority, they still face huge challenges. Negative beliefs, distant governments and the fact that only one percent of aid targets disabled people, means that there is often little chance that disabled people will be removed from the poverty spiral they are trapped in.
Disability Africa supports disabled young people and their families. We work to change the negative attitudes that exist, support disabled children into education and provide medical attention to those who are in urgent need.
By working with local people, we create local solutions ensuring that our projects are sustainable and provide immense benefits to the community in which we are working.
As each World Disability Day passes, we know that progress is being made – the rights and needs of disabled people are becoming more recognised. But there’s still a long way to go.
We are part of a movement for inclusion – we encourage you to join us.
You can help us change the lives of disabled young people in Africa by donating. Just £10 could bring a disabled child out of isolation into a fun, supportive, educational environment.
You can also join your voice with ours…