6th Africa Forum, Kampala, Uganda

From The African Union of the Blind

The African Union of the Blind (AFUB) is delighted to welcome participants, delegates, visitors and development partners to this augus gatherings of experts to the 6th Africa Forum and 8th AFUB General Assembly in Uganda. The programme over the five days is exciting, challenging and stimulating. AFUB is proud to have embedded other activities within the 6th Africa Forum. We would encourage all of you to participate in as many of these activities as possible. Your knowledge and wisdom will help AFUB and our member Countries to improve our offerings in the empowerment of blind and partially sighted people in Africa. We welcome innovative ideas and contributions to enrich the Forum and AFUB discussions.
AFUB has an office in the conference complex and we encourage you to drop in for a chat. It would be a great privilege for the AFUB Board Officials and myself to meet our many members and friends.

I take this opportunity of cordially welcoming you to the Forum Activities and particularly to the AFUB activities.

Jace Nair

President: African Union of the Blind (AFUB)

Mobile: [phone]; Email: [e-mail]

From The International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment, ICEVI

The International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment, ICEVI takes this opportunity to welcome you to the 6^th Africa Forum here in Kampala, Uganda. ICEVI is once again proud to be associated with the largest convening in the blindness sector in Africa, as part of the committed planning team and as a host and co-host of various panel discussions and interactive workshops in education.
We invite you to several exciting engagements in the course of the week. Majorly, we are re-launching the EFA-VI Global Campaign alongside the Forum launch. Tuesday 6^th October is the Forum’s Day of Education. This is the day that ICEVI and stakeholders in education will engage to interrogate our mission ‘to promote equal access to appropriate education for all children and youth with visual impairment so that they achieve their full potential.’ With the launch of Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs), ICEVI is taking advantage of the Forum and as a platform to propose appropriate strategies for achieving this mission as we aim at ‘achieving inclusive and quality education for all persons with visual impairment , and their lifelong learning’ in this era of renewed commitment for EFA. On behalf of ICEVI in Africa and ICEVI global, I once again welcome you all to the 6^TH Africa Forum!
Tigabu Gebremedhin

Chairperson, ICEVI Africa Region

www.icevi.org

From The International Agency For The Prevention Of Blindness – Africa

As a founding member of the Vision Alliance, an initiative of the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, the World Blind Union and the International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment, IAPB is delighted to be involved in the 6^th African Forum and to support efforts to create greater synergy and collaboration between the three organisations at the regional level for the purpose of improving the services and programmes of each organisation to better serve our people.

Our areas of synergy are well known. We work together to develop mechanisms to ensure a systematic exchange of information so that we can identify areas of mutual concern where we can work together through joint advocacy and to create common platforms where all stakeholders can plan comprehensive services for persons with visual impairment . We would like to wish the organisers of the 6^th Africa Forum every success in the week’s proceedings and look forward to participating in these important discussions.

Prof Kovin Naidoo

From The Institutional Development Program – IDP

It is with great excitement that we welcome you to the 6^th Africa Forum, the 2^nd TechShare Africa Exhibitions and the 8^th General Assembly of the African Union of the Blind.

The journey towards the 6^th Africa Forum has been long but one filled with great experiences. Since the 1^st Africa Forum in 1999, the Africa Forum has consistently grown and expanded in the number and diversity of participants as well as in the diversity of the themes and content of its program focus. Starting with under 80 participants from 12 countries in 1999 to 400 participants from over 50 countries today, the Africa Forum has become the largest gathering on disability on the continent. This progressive growth and expansion is a true evidence of the relevance of the Africa Forum and the role it plays in providing a platform for knowledge sharing within the continent and beyond.
The Program of the 6^th Africa Forum is the richest ever: with a record eight concurrent sessions, the Programs offers a wide range of options from which to choose. We have put together a more diverse thematic content, selected some of the best Keynote Speakers from a wide spectrum of fields, constituted more thematic panel sessions that allow more focussed and collaborative discussions and paraded a larger number of workshops, interactive sessions and trainings to provide participants with practical skills and take-aways from the Forum.
From the Institutional Development Program, we are therefore extremely excited to witness yet another successful Africa Forum. Our gratitude goes to our partners Board (Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Norwegian Association of the Blind and Partially Sighted, Perkins School for the Blind, Sightsavers and the World Blind Union), the Government of Uganda, the International Organising Team, the Local Host Committee sponsors, exhibitors and you, the participants for making the 6^th Africa Forum the success it is!
Martin Kieti,

Coordinator, IDP and The Africa Forum.