6th Africa Forum, Kampala, Uganda

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

AFUB Women Forum (Victoria Hall)
O.. Juimo, African Union of the Blind, Cameroon.

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The AFUB Women’s Forum will bring together women from AFUB member countries including women’s representatives from each of the five AFUB regions: North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. The proposed agenda will include reports from women regional representatives of the women’s committee; strategies for partnership and resource mobilisation; women’s Action Plan and election of the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Women’s Committee.
Building Strong ICEVI Regions: Role of Centres of Excellence (Meera Hall)
H. Welling, Royal Dutch Visio, Netherlands.

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ICEVI realizes that for effective implementation of the Global Campaign on Education for all Children with Visual Impairment (EFA-VI) and building strong ICEVI regional structures the concept of Centres of Excellence or of Centres of Expertise (COEs) have to be embraced. The COEs are expected to play catalytic roles within the countries in ways ranging from promoting advocacy campaigns at the national and provincial levels to create a demand for education of children with visual impairment, all the way to developing a mechanism to produce assistive devices at affordable rates. It must be appreciated that this is just suggestive and hence the COEs may stipulate specific objectives as per the needs of the countries where EFA-VI implementation is initiated.

Keeping in Step with UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (Sheena Hall)

Dave Power, Angela Affran & Marianne Riggio, Perkins International, USA.

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Goal 4 of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development clearly defines the mandate to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. Perkins International, in its mission to supporting children and young adults with deafblindness, multiple disabilities and visual impairment to achieve their full potential as valued, contributing members of their families, schools and communities aligns closely with the 2030 objectives 4.1, 4.5, 4.6 and 4c. Children and young adults with visual impairment and multiple disabilities are extremely vulnerable for abuse and neglect are most likely to be left out of school and related services. During this workshop session, Perkins International Staff will share program priorities, highlights of strategic plan and examples of successful work in the region with valued partners. Through these partnerships, innovative work in early intervention, school services, transition, teacher training and leadership development has created positive change for children with visual impairment and multiple disabilities in the region.
Hands-On Activities on Science and Mathematics with the New Special STEM Kit: (Royal Hall)
S. Adelakun, University of Birmingham UK.

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This workshop introduces participants to the use of the special Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Kit designed for teaching science and mathematics to students with visual impairment by sighted teachers in mainstream schools in Nigeria. The presentation includes techniques of using the kit to enhance full and independent participation of students with visual impairment during lessons. Participants work in groups and receive a kit, handout and worksheets on steps to teach with the kit. Participants solve typical problems in science and mathematics using the kit. There is a short illustration of the components of the kit, followed by a brief demonstration and finally hands-on activities in groups. This workshop is designed to propose a change to the way science and mathematics is taught to the students with visual impairment in mainstream schools in Nigeria and some other countries where they are either passive listeners or totally excluded in many situations.
Strengthening The Rehabilitative Component Of Health System (Regal Hall)
Ronnie Graham, IAPB Africa, South Africa.

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In this seminar, leading specialists from the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness – Africa will present and answer questions on how each cadre addresses the rehabilitative component of health system strengthening.

The theme of all the presentations will be how do eye health workers address issues of unavoidable blindness. This will be addressed from the perspective of the ophthalmologist, optometrist, mid-level worker, PEC worker and Community health worker - so that whatever the entry point into the health system, the eye health worker is in a position to provide support.

Training Program On Web Accessibility – II (Majestic Hall)

DAISY Consortium/UNESCO.

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Target audience for this training are people engaged in developing websites and software applications to orient them to the web accessibility barriers and the best practices for making information available to all. This training will cover the following topics: common web accessibility barriers: testing for web accessibility: web accessibility guidelines; examples of good accessible websites; and code snippets for retrofitting inaccessible websites. Participants will be expected to bring their computers with them.
A Basic Introduction on the Visual Challenges of Persons with Albinism in the Classroom (Emerald Hall)
Jayne Waithera, Kondo Seif, Perpetua Senkoro, Under the Same Sun (UTSS), Tanzania.

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This workshop will tackle the issue of how persons with albinism see generally and the challenges they face in the classroom setting specifically. The issue will be tackled in context of a classroom in a school for persons who are blind as well as in an integrated classroom. The workshop will also address specific questions such as: how low is the vision of the average person with albinism? When is Braille an appropriate learning system? What are the reasonable accommodations that can be provided to persons with albinism in the classroom setting? The workshop will be based on Under The Same Sun’s “Quick Guide for Teachers and Educators of Persons With Albinism (2010)” which has been adopted as a best practice model by the Ministry of Education in Tanzania.

Atlas Alliance Workshop On Media and Disability (Amethyst Hall)

Anne Nyeggen, Atlas Alliance, Norway

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This is a closed-door training to build the skills of communications and media workers as well as people working in the disability sector in developing content and working with the media for positive portrayal of disability Participants to this workshop have already been selected.