Advanced Course on Disability Rights provides space for critical reflection on the human rights of persons with disabilities in Africa

Posted on March 28, 2019

The Centre for Human Rights hosted the Advanced Human Rights Course on Disability Rights in an African context from 11 – 15 March 2019. The course was organised by the Centre’s Disability Rights Unit, in collaboration with the Advanced Human Rights Courses (AHRC).

The course was attended by over 60 participants from 20 African countries. The participants included students on the LLM/MPhil (Disability Rights in Africa) and LLM/MPhil (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa) programmes, doctoral candidates, practitioners working with persons with disabilities, human rights activists, government officials, judicial officers, civil society members and academia.

Lecturers and speakers included:

A highlight of the course was the personal narrative by Ms Regina Ndlovu, an activist and motivator. Ms Ndlovu shared her experiences as a person with albinism, the problems she faced and how she managed to overcome these challenges.

Mr Jehoshaphat Njau, from the Centre’s Disability Rights Unit, facilitated the screening of the documentary ‘In the Shadow of the Sun’ which gave the participants a much deeper understanding on the violence experienced by persons with albinism, particularly in Tanzania. He further led a discussion on the key issues that arose from the documentary and urged the participants to consider ways in which they can engage with their communities to address the misconceptions around albinism.

The last day of the course was dedicated to having the participants present a simulated Assembly of Heads of State before the African Union. The debate was on the African Disability Rights Protocol. Participants were tasked with conducting research on the position of their assigned country regarding the Protocol, and see to what extent that could be aligned with their country’s constitution that would to lead to quicker ratification. Participants also had to write a position paper and participated in the debate. The course was a success and the participants did exceptionally well during the simulation.


The financial support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Pretoria is greatly appreciated.

- Author Centre for Human Rights

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