Under a U.S. State Department grant aimed at combatting persistent human rights abuses in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Institute on Community Integration last month trained people with disabilities and non-profit organizations in the central African nation on advocacy strategies, including the use of radio and social media to raise awareness about disability rights.
Working with the Kadiwaku Family Foundation, ICI’s Macdonald Metzger and Lynda Lahti Anderson offered training in social and broadcast media storytelling for about 100 individuals with disabilities, and in strategies for cooperatively advocating for the rights of people with disabilities for representatives of more than 60 community, governmental, and human rights organizations. The trainings were held in Kisangani, a city of about 1.2 million people.
“With very few resources, there is actually quite a lot of disability advocacy work going on there,” Anderson said. “Our message was focused on how to support a community of practice and have organizations work together to build a sustainable structure.”
As part of the two-year State Department project, the group earlier surveyed 1,000 people in the region about attitudes and behaviors toward people with disabilities. They expect to repeat the survey later this summer to determine if the trainings helped increase awareness of disability rights. In the initial survey, nearly 83 percent of respondents said they feel uncomfortable when they see a person in a wheelchair. Nearly 50 percent said they have the impression that people with disabilities are being punished for something they have done.
