Why Inclusion Of Persons With Disabilities Can Help Accelerate Africa’s Sustainable Development

Mon, Feb 3, 2025 | By editor


Opinion

Chika Idoko
Roseline Obadiuno

By Chika Idoko and Roseline Obadiuno

AFRICA stands as the world’s fastest growing region with about 60% of the population under the age of 25 and its youth demographic predicted to double by 2050. Despite this seemingly enormous potential, inadequate institutional frameworks to promote and strengthen inclusion remains a key concern for governments across the continent. This is especially striking when it comes to inclusion for disabled persons. Today, about 4% of the continent’s total population comprises people with disabilities (PWDs); yet, studies show that they remain among the most overlooked, vulnerable, and exposed groups within the continent’s socio-economic and political set-up. In many African countries, this translates to millions of people who are often marginalised and excluded from society. These are statistics which most people and organisations have frequently engaged with.

Persons with disabilities (PWDs) encompass individuals who experience one or more of a wide range of impairments commonly referred to as disabilities. These disabilities can be broadly categorised into physical, mental, sensory, cognitive, neurological, and developmental types.

The presence of disabilities within sections of the continent’s population has inherent limitations to persons who live with them. These limitations are further exacerbated by surrounding factors like social exclusion and marginalisation. It is common for people with disabilities to be systematically disadvantaged in nearly all aspects of society and social life in Africa. Despite ongoing efforts by the United Nations, the African Union and its member states to remedy the problem, Africa and most of the developing world lag far behind in the progress towards equity and inclusion. 

As the continent refocuses its efforts on improving societal inclusivity for persons living with disabilities, it is crucial to ensure that deliberate attempts are made to foster their participation in decision-making and policy-making processes regarding sustainability. 

Strengthening the existing sustainability framework requires that the continent’s 54 countries collectively work together to meaningfully reflect on the historical institutional failures that have led to the systemic exclusion of people with disabilities. While it is encouraging to see private sector players strategically collaborating with international sustainability players to ensure better inclusion within the workforce, these noble efforts are often overshadowed by glaring inequalities elsewhere on the continent. This has then translated to irregular and inconsistent progress for the continent’s overall sustainability development. 

One sustainability goal that requires deliberate efforts to be achieved fully is education. Discrimination against students with disabilities remains a significant challenge at various levels of education across the continent. Closer regulation by concerned governments and occasional benchmarking with established educational systems in the developed world have been instrumental in helping teachers, school administrators and stakeholders in dealing with this issue. Even with what has been achieved so far, a lot still needs to be done as many students still face unprecedented obstacles throughout the educational system as a result of stigmatisation and exclusion. The efforts to end stigmatisation in academia must also extend to the very apex of higher learning, academia and research. 

Besides quality education for all, poverty reduction is also a key goal for the continent. While poverty levels have fallen significantly since 1990, the rate of poverty reduction in Africa has remained slower than the global average. The low per-capita Gross Domestic Product (GDP) levels have been primarily due to poor or inadequate inclusion strategies in wealth generation. The hardest hit section of the population in this regard is persons with disabilities. 

Since 2016, the British Council has continuously initiated efforts to capture lessons learnt in sustaining its mainstreaming efforts globally. Its regional team in Sub-Saharan Africa has also prioritised the inclusion of persons from marginalised background through an inclusive internship programme. The programme started in Nigeria and was formally launched as a regional priority in 2022. The programme provides opportunities for persons from marginalised backgrounds to work with different teams to acquire the essential skills and experiences which positions them for gainful employment and support their upward social mobility. This initiative is ongoing and has been hugely positive for staff and the interns. 

Furthermore, it is crucial that stakeholders within the continent work towards fully accommodating the voices of disabled populations when framing sustainability strategies and decisions. As it stands, most African countries lack a comprehensive framework regarding the inclusion of persons with disabilities in such processes. This absence has severely limited the effectiveness of policies, especially in cases where the decisions taken massively affect or are affected by persons with disabilities. 

The strategic formulation and implementation of inclusive policies, stakeholder collaboration, removal of communication and access barriers, promotion and practice of inclusion will go a long way in facilitating sustainable development on the continent. Combining these with consistent implementation of initiatives aimed at enabling an inclusive environment for persons with disabilities will further create a more equitable and sustainable society.

Chika Idoko is Deputy Global Head of Equality Diversity and Inclusion at British Council; Roseline Obadiuno is a Project Manager and Accredited Diversity Facilitator at the British Council. 

A.I

Feb. 3, 2025

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