6th Africa Forum, Kampala, Uganda

WORKSHOPS AND INTERACTIVE SESSIONS (14:00 – 16:00 HRS)

8th AFUB General Assembly (Victoria Hall)

Jace Nair, African Union of the Blind (AFUB), Kenya.

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The 8th AFUB General Assembly proposes to bring together the 53 member countries of AFUB. The General Assembly is a constitutional requirement and the agenda will include the presentation of The Presidential address and quadrennial narrative and financial report; Strategic Plan for the next term; Constitutional amendments; and Election of the Board and Office Bearers. Approximately 120 participants comprising delegates, observers, staff and guests will be expected at the General Assembly.

ICEVI: The EFA-VI Campaign (Meera Hall)
Dr. M.N.G. Mani and Regional Chairs, ICEVI

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The Education For All Children with Visual Impairment, (EFA-VI) Global Campaign is implemented by the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI), acting in partnership with the World Blind Union (WBU). The purpose of the campaign is to work with all stakeholders to ensure that more children with visual impairment are enrolled in the educational systems prevailing in the participating countries. This interactive session will outline the guiding principles of the campaign, current status worldwide, specific activities of the campaign in the Africa region and the future plans. Members of the Executive Committee of ICEVI, the Global Task Force of the Campaign and practitioners at the national level will participate in this interactive session.
Making Braille Accessible To All – The Challenges oF Braille Production In Africa (Sheena Hall)
D. Merriman, Braillo Norway, Norway, K. Juma, ABC, Kenya & R Mwanzi, KIB, Kenya..

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In April this year, Braillo Norway in collaboration with the African Braille Centre and the Kenya Institute for the Blind hosted an East African Regional Braille Production Workshop which brought together participants from institutions producing Braille in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Some of the issues discussed included standardisation of Braille codes, transcription of mathematics, reducing the cost of Braille production, access to electronic copies of books, form publishers, adaptation and presentation of tactile impressions, and, improving Braille reading and writing skills among learners. Participants at the workshop recommended that a follow-up workshop be held at the 6^th Africa Forum to facilitate the sharing of experiences among a wider spectrum of producers of Braille on these and other related issues. This workshop is therefore open to all that have an interest in the production and use of Braille.

Developing And Delivering An Advocacy Agenda For Inclusion In Primary Eye Care (Royal Hall)

Dr D. Lackey, HelpAge EWCARDC Office, Kenya.

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This is a practical workshop where participants will be taken through the various steps in developing and delivering an advocacy agenda for inclusion of Primary Eye Care within the national Primary health care systems. It will involve group work activities on developing an advocacy strategies using the conceptual framework. Groups could be divided in country blocks of say Eastern, Southern, West Africa. Maximum number of participants would need to be 40 for four groups of 10 members. Feedback in the form of a role play with advocacy team of three members meeting a key decision-maker to deliver the advocacy message will follow.

Basic Skills For Mathematics In Primary Schools (Regal Hall)

A. Buurmeijer & P. Wijen, Royal Dutch Visio, Netherlands.

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During this workshop, Royal Dutch Visio would like to demonstrate how to teach mathematics to visually impaired pupils. Mathematics is action in which logical thinking and ranking of information plays an important part. It therefore requires understanding and insight. It is important to make mathematics as tactile as possible: every mathematical formula is preceded by action in which materials are physically handled. Since severely visually impaired pupils need to perform actions in order to gain an understanding of mathematics, it is essential to pay particular attention to tactile functioning. Such pupils depend on tactile functioning to gain experience of performing actions and it is the basis for their understanding. Teaching mathematics to blind and low vision pupils requires a teacher with a lot of creativity, patience and solution orientated skills. This workshop will give insight and tools for anyone interested in teaching mathematics.

Training Program On Inclusive Publishing – II (Majestic Hall)

The DAISY Consortium / UNESCO

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The target audience for this training people engaged in preparing books in publishing companies, libraries, government, schools/colleges and not-for-profits A hands-on training of two days duration for people engaged in preparing books in publishing companies, libraries, government, schools/colleges and not-for-profits to give them knowledge and skill of producing digital content that conforms to international standards and is accessible to everyone including people with disabilities. The training will include production of digital files conforming to EPUB3 and DAISY standard using open source and popular tools used in publishing. Computers would be required for all participants.
IDP Youth Empowerment and Mentorship Initiatives (Emerald Hall)
Martin Kieti, IDP, Kenya.

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Over the past five years the Institutional Development Program has been working with national associations of the blind in Kenya, Nigeria and Malawi to mentor young professionals who are blind or partially sighted as new change agents in their communities. The projects have also included preparing the youth for diversified career opportunities and leadership, especially within the non-disability milieu. In 2013, the IDP convened the First Young Leaders Camp, a two-week empowerment experience for twenty blind and partially sighted youth from nine African countries to build their self-determination and exposé them to transformational thinking and leadership. This workshop brings together participants and mentors from the three countries as well as the Youth Camp to share experiences and suggest recommendations on how youth programs may be strengthened. Presentations will be made from the three countries and from the Camp. All youth and youth-at-heart are welcome.

Strengthening Educational Outcomes And Impact (Amethyst Hall)