The first disability studies certificate program in West Africa begins this month at the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana, the result of a nearly two-year partnership formed to train disability services professionals in a region where stigma still keeps many people with disabilities from education, employment, and other aspects of community life.
Enlightening and Empowering People with Disabilities in Africa (EEPD Africa), the University of Vermont, and the Institute on Community Integration at the University of Minnesota partnered with UCC to design the International Certificate in Disability Studies, a one-year program. It is modeled on disability policy and services certificates offered at ICI and University of Vermont and on work the Institute has done in Kenya. UCC is adapting the curricula from the U.S. programs to be culturally relevant from a West African perspective, but the course will be offered online and open to anyone.
“The organizations are collaborating on several initiatives, including the certificate program, that are aimed at putting people with disabilities at the forefront of their own lives,” said Macdonald Metzger (pictured at lower right), ICI’s director of outreach and engagement. “My hope is that it will inspire other organizations to partner with us in other parts of the world.”
