Civics Academy partners with Khulisa Social Solutions
An international Summit for People with Albinism in Johannesburg
Lively engagements
HSF
Aiming to build resilient futures
Khulisa recently partnered with the Hanns Seidel Foundation’s Civics Academy project on the first day of a two-day Summit for People with Albinism (PWA). People with Albinism are an extremely marginalised group who suffer many human rights abuses across the continent. In order to build resilient futures for People with Albinism, Khulisa partnered with stakeholders from Tanzania, Zimbabwe and South Africa who have taken a leading role over many years in advocating for the social and economic inclusion of PWAs on a global scale. The central objective of the first day of the PWA summit was to create a Declaration of Intent, setting out how PWA want to see the human rights abuses they experience addressed.
Diverse experts had joined the event in Johannesburg
HSF
Drafting a Declaration of Intent
A range of professionals with backgrounds in disability rights, employment, human rights and academia presented throughout the event and assisted in the drafting of the Declaration of Intent. Mira Dutschke from Civics Academy presented the video on “What are Human Rights” and facilitated a discussion on human rights, how they can be implemented, and the role that civil society advocacy plays in making these rights lived realities. Vernon Naidoo presented on employment rights of people with disabilities. Information in relation to the employment standards and rights that PWAs have greatly assisted participants in identifying key advocacy actions. Vicky Ntetema, a leading academic in the field of disability and albinism, gave an impassioned and unforgettable speech. Having worked with PWA for over 30 years, Vicky provided a comprehensive overview into the challenges, successes and discourse on albinism.
The outcome of the day was a Declaration of Intent which spells out how PWA intend to address the challenges that they face. This Declaration acts as a founding document that outlines what actions and commitments PWA would like to see from their governments, the media their communities, their families and from themselves.
The video “What are Human Rights” which was used during the Civics Academy presentation is available on the Civics Academy Website: