KOREAN BUSINESSMAN DONATES TOWARD MZBEL’S DISABILITY PROJECT

The Managing Director of Harom International Company Limited Mr. Jin ho Moon and his local partner Mr.  Joseph Darko has donated 200 brand new clothing’s to PROMOAFRICA towards Mzbel’s Disability Music Ambassador project to aid the beautiful musician on her next level of activities.

Mr.  Jin ho Moon and mr. Joseph Darko presented the items at the official confirmation ceremony of Mzbel as Disability Music Ambassador for PROMOAFICA at La Villa Boutique Hotel in Accra on St. Valentine’s day.

Speaking at the donation, Mr. Moon said, their gift is token from his company on valentine day to aid Mzbel for the right path she has taken, and they are ready to partner her in other activities to support the underprivileged in society.

Mr.  Jin ho Moon.  praised the songstress for using her God given talent to work for persons with disabilities and her kindhearted tendencies towards, children women and persons with disabilities.

The Executive Secretary of PROMOAFRICA Mariam Nyarkoah Amponsah who received the items on behalf of the network, thank Mr. Moon and his local partners for the kind gesture and assured him that the cloths will be given to persons with disabilities in one of the special schools in the country.

The Network of Journalists for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (PROMOAFRICA), on 14^th February 2018, was outdoor at a colorful ceremony to serve as Disability Music Ambassador to help raise funds to support its activities to train African journalists on the African Unions (AU) Charter on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Her appointment according to PROMOAFRICA, was based on her long-time experience, exposure and influence in the art, cultural and music industry in Ghana, couples with her enthusiasm to work with the underprivileged, the marginalized, women and children in Ghana.

As Special Ambassador, Mzbel is tasked in helping to promote positively the rights of persons with disabilities in Ghana and Africa and work closely with PROMOAFRICA’s projects.

Source: Seth Addi/TodayGhanaNews.com

MZBEL APPOINTED DISABILITY MUSIC AMBASSADOR FOR PROMOAFRICA

Mxbel reciving the citation from PROMOAFRICA 

One of Ghana’s sensational female veteran musician, Ms. Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah popularly known as Mzbel has been nominated as Disability Music Ambassador for PROMOFRICA at a colorful event at La Villa Boutique hotel in Accra on 14^th February 2018 for a period of three years.

According to a citation  presented to her at the event witness by the leadership of Ghana coalition of Disability Organisations and the media, reads “The Network of Journalists for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (PROMOAFRICA), with pleasure nominate you to serve as our special Disability Music Ambassador to  help raise funds to support its activities to train African journalists on the African Unions (AU) Charter on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.

“Your Appointment as a Special Music Ambassador is based on your long-time experience, exposure and influence in the art, cultural and music industry in Ghana, couples with your enthusiasm to work with the underprivileged, the marginalized, women and children in Ghana”.

“As Special Ambassador, you are tasked in helping to promote positively the rights of persons with disabilities in Ghana and Africa and work closely with PROMOAFRICA’s projects from the period February 2018 to February 2021”.

According the citation signed by the executive Secretary of PROMOAFRICA Mr.  Mariam Nyarkoa Amponsah said, “With your competency, leadership and creativity, we place responsibility on you and your outfit (Mzbel Music) to work with PROMOAFRICA to organize the First Ghana National Disability Awards and Concert to raise funds for PROMOAFRICA and Africa Disability Alliance (ADA) to encourage inclusion of PWDs in society”.

“Demonstrating your support for this project will ensure great benefit and incredible opportunities for us, PWD’s and journalists that will benefit from your generous benevolence”.

“In thanking you for accepting this noble task, we extend also our very best wishes in connection with the important new responsibilities you are about to assume”.

The Network of Journalist for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disability in Africa (PROMOAFRICA) was formed by the African Decade Secretariat of Persons with disabilities in the Senegalese capital Dakar on the 24th of April 2008 by journalists attending a training workshop on the "new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the New Terminology Guide. Attended by journalists from Liberia, the Gambia, Mauritania, Sierra Leone, La Cote D’ Ivore, Ghana, Senegal, Togo and Burundi.

PROMOAFRICA was launched on the 23rd June 2008 by the Deputy Minister of Manpower, Youth and Employment, Hon Frema Opare, tasked to work closely with the  disability  organizations in Ghana and Africa to achieve their aims and objectives.

Source: Seth Addi/TodayGhanaNews.com

AFRICA DISABILITY ALLIANCE BOSS SENT HEARTWARMING MESSAGE TO MZBEL

The Chief Executive Officer of Africa Disability Alliance Mr. Kudakwashe Dube has sent a heartwarming congratulatory message to Ghana’s sensational songstress Mzbel on her appointment a Disability Music Ambassador of PROMOAFRICA.

Since 2004, the ADA has worked with a range of development and political organisations such as AU, UN agencies, intergovernmental organisations, International Non-governmental Organisations (INGOs), development agencies, research institutions and universities to ensure the generation and spread of knowledge and best practices throughout the continent about inclusive development.

The organization advocates for inclusion of disability and people with disabilities into development plans and programmes as well as for self-determination of people with disabilities.

ADA is a disability-led technical agency deriving its mandate from the African continental human rights movement of organisations of persons with disabilities that constitute its membership, the ADA works on and utilizes a broad range of policy tools in disability programming and implementation processes.

The ADA vision is ‘’ An African continent where people with disabilities enjoy their human rights’’. This is achieve through working in partnership with African governments, Private sector, Civil Society OrganiZations CSOs and Disabled People’s Organizations DPO to promote inclusive development and human rights for persons with disabilities in Africa.

The south African based organization, in a letter dated 14^th February 2018, said “This is to congratulate you on your nomination as  Disability Music Ambassador of PROMOAFRICA, for your relentless and selfless service to society. Let me congratulate you personally as well as on behalf of all the Africa Disability Alliance.

Mr. Kudakwashe Dube in appreciation said “Madam, the entire country knows you as a selfless social worker and a great singer. The country has witnessed how you elbowed your way through all hardships and worked for the destitute, the needy and the poor”.

“Madam, you have been working for the last years and proved that if people want to bring about the social change they can do so. I think you being the Disability Music Goodwill Ambassador is the honor of this honor in a true sense.

“We hope our musicians in the continent too do something worthwhile taking some inspiration from your work”.

Mzbel. born Belinda Nana Ekua Amoah was crown the Disability Music Ambassador for PROMOAFRICA at a colorful event at La Villa Boutique hotel in Accra by The Network of Journalists for the Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (PROMOAFRICA) supported by the Ghana Coalition of Disability Organizations on Valentine day.

According to PROMOAFRICA, Mzbel’s appointment is based on her long-time experience, exposure and influence in the art, cultural and music industry in Ghana, couples with her enthusiasm to work with the underprivileged, the marginalized, women and children in Ghana.

As Disability Music Ambassador, she was tasked to help promote positively the rights of persons with disabilities in Ghana and Africa and work closely with PROMOAFRICA’s projects from the period February 2018 to February 2021.

Source: Seth Addi/PROMOAFRICA

ADA URGED AFRICAN GOV’TS TO RATIFY AFRICA DISABILITY PROTOCOL

The Africa Disability Alliance calls on African Governments to ratify the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa.

According to a press state issued on 8^th February 2018 and signed by the communication Director of The Africa Disability Alliance (ADA) Ms Aida sarr, they congratulated  the African Union (AU) Assembly of African Union Heads of States and Governments held from 28-29 January 2018 for adopting the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa (herein referred to as the Africa Disability Protocol (ADP) or Protocol).

The statement said “31 January 2018 will forever be engraved in the memory of the over 84 million African with disabilities, including older persons and their supporters.  The Assembly, during its 30th summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia took a historic decision that a direct positive impact on the lives of persons with disabilities giving effect to ADA’s vision of ‘An African continent where people with disabilities enjoy their human rights”.

She said, the ADA recognises the AU and its agencies as key partners in ensuring fulfilment of human rights for people with disabilities in Africa. ADA has been collaborating with AU Commission’s Department of Social Affairs (DSA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (where ADA has a regional office), African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) in Banjul, the Gambia and the Pan African Parliament (PAP) in Midrand, South Africa.

ADA has Observer Status with the ACHPR (the ADA Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mr Kudakwashe “AK’ Dube is an expert member of the Working Group for Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities) and a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with PAP which enabled the organisation to play a pivotal role in the development and drafting the Protocol.

ADA provided resources, expertise, capacity, research evidence, diplomacy and international influence that guided the development of the protocol. The organisations mobilised international, regional, nation civil society organisations (CSOs), Disabled Peoples’ Organisations (DPOs), development cooperation partners in advocacy and lobbying programmes that targeted the AU in its policy and legal reforms.

We would like to thank our partners the African Union Commission, the Regional Economic Communities, the African Commission for Human and Peoples’ Rights, the Pan African Parliament, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights for their active participation and support over the years.

In a statement to mark the adoption of the Protocol, the CEO of ADA Mr K. Dube said:

‘This is a momentous occasion, a key milestone in a journey that started more than eight years ago. It is important to stress that the Protocol adds value to and is premised on the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.’

He went on to say:

‘ADA acknowledges the key role played by the African Union Commission, ACHPR, PAP, partners such as the Swedish Development Agency (Sida), European Union, Christoffel Blindenmission (CBM), Open Society Institute of Southern Africa (OSISA), Finnish Foreign Ministry, GiZ, USAID and African governments who, since 2008 provided much needed support at the various stages of developing the Protocol.  We thank all organisations, academic institutions, DPOs, ADA Continental Member Organisations^[1] and their leadership/management structures that provided invaluable inputs, proposals and launched various campaigns that resulted in the endorsement of the draft Protocol by the ACHPR, AU Special Technical Committees (STCs) and other stakeholders. We thank the media, ADA network of Journalists, and Network of Parliamentarians for the support and promotion of this Protocol and ADA’s work in general.’

Mr K. Dube urged all the fifty-five African countries to now ratify the Protocol in record time. He addition, he said:

‘Our message to current and future generations of children, youth, women, men with disabilities in their diversity is that let us appreciate the efforts, sacrifices and determination that went into the development and campaigns/programmes for the adoption of the Protocol. Use this instrument in the enforcement of your rights and ensure that all its articles are known and utilised by all persons with disabilities.’

The Africa Disability Alliance Participation in the Drafting of the Protocol

The adoption of the ADP is a product of advocacy efforts dating back to 2008. The initiative started with the Africa Disability Alliance (ADA), former Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (SADPD), convening a roundtable in Cape Town in 2011, which resulted in a Communiqué raising issues of concern on the process undertaken by the African Union Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) through its Working Group of Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities in drafting an African Disability Protocol (ADP). This subsequently resulted in a successful advocacy strategy that lobbied the African Union (AU) to make the drafting process more inclusive and participatory.

Thus, ensuring that the African Commission in its process of developing the Protocol, ensured that the process was progressive, participatory and inclusive. The approach included the generation and utilization of knowledge on disability and human rights in Africa for the purposes of developing sector position papers and awareness-raising. Successful advocacy and lobbying work was undertaken through the years. Several roundtable consultation sessions were held with stakeholders, experts and disability human rights defenders across the African continent.

The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights at its 45^th session in 2009 put in place a process towards promoting the rights of persons with disabilities. They established a Working Group on Older Persons and Persons with Disabilities to develop the initial and preliminary draft of the Disability Protocol. However, this process was not consultative. Disability experts and ADA’s mobilised stakeholders and successfully appealed for the process to be opened for wide consultations and for the Working Group to be made inclusive of disability experts.  To inform the process, ADA produced a discussion report to guide the debate for and against the African Disability Protocol. It also argued why the provisions in an ADP must be consistent with the minimum standards set in the UN Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities. In November 2011, an inclusive ACHPR Working Group started the process of drafting the ADP.

The African Disability Protocol (ADP) builds on the rights enshrined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and UN charter. The protocol has an African relevance, thrust and the adoption of the ADP is a major success the Africa Disability Alliance and its partners in spearheading and driving the rights of persons with disabilities in Africa. The protocol reflects a legal instrument from an African perspective.

Article 1 of the Protocol states the purpose as ‘---to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human and people’s rights by all persons with disabilities, and to ensure respect for their inherent dignity’.

Article 2 covers General Principles; Article 3 General Obligations; Article 4 Non-discrimination; Article 5 Right to Equality; Article 6 Equal Recognition before the Law; Article 7 Rights to Life; Article 8 Right to Liberty and Security of Persons; Article 9 Harmful Practices ; Article 10 Situations of Risk ; Article 11 Right to Access Justice; Article 12 Right to Live in the Community; Article 13 Accessibility ; Article 14 Right to Education ; Article 15 Right to Health ; Article 16 Habilitation and Rehabilitation ; Article 17 Right to Work ; Article 18 Right to Adequate Standard of Living ; Article 19 Right to Participate in Political and Public Life; Article 20 Self-representation; Article 21 Right to Freedom of Expression and opinion ; Article 22 Access to Information Article 23 Right to Participate in Sports, Recreation and Culture; Article 24 Right to Family; Article 25 Women and Girls with Disabilities; Article 26 Children with Disabilities ; Article 27 Youth with Disabilities; Article 28 Older Persons with Disabilities; Article 29 Duties of Persons with Disabilities; Article 30. Statistics, Data and Other Surveys; Article 31 Cooperation. The Protocol has other articles that important in the value chain of ratification, compliance and implementation.

ADA encourages all African countries to ratify and deposit the Protocol to the AUC in line with Articles 35-36. Without 15 countries adopting the Protocol, this law will not come into effect.

The Africa Disability Alliance is a technical agency that promotes the rights of persons with disabilities play meaningful roles at as full members of an inclusive society and who have important contributions to make to their families, communities, countries and internationally. This includes the requirement that People with Disabilities, as individuals and through their organizations, play a meaningful role in the implementation, monitoring, oversight, evaluation and enforcement of policy/legal instruments, policies and programmes that directly affect their lives.

In order to achieve the objectives of the Protocol, we appeal to our governments, development (cooperation) partners, the private sectors and funding/technical partners to support the Africa Disability Alliance (ADA) and all stakeholders to ensure ratification, adoption and implementation of the Protocol.

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