CONTENT

1. The Effect of Armed Conflict on People Living with Disabilities in AfricaCase Study -Sierra Leone

2. CONTENT • General overview • Population of the persons with disabilities in Sierra Leone • Forms of Disabilities • Perceptions about disability before the War • Situation of Disability during the War • Issues faced by persons with disabilities population • Education • Social participation • Employment and income • Health • Government of Sierra Leone intervention • Recommendations • Key messages

3. General Overview. • Sierra Leone is a West African country bordering Guinea to the northwest, Liberia to the south east and West by the Atlantic ocean. • It has an estimated population of 5.6m with male female ratio of 940/1000. 45% of the population is aged between 0-14years. • Average life expectancy is 42.2 years and the under-5 mortality is 282/1000 live births. WorldDevelopment indicators ,2006 Htpp//web.world bank.org/website/external/countries/Africaext/Sierraleoneextn/o

4. Population of the Disabled in Sierra Leone: • There was no data about persons with disabilities before the war in Sierra Leone. • The unicef MICs(2005) shows that 24% (about 625,000) of children were identified as disabled. (NOTE:- children form 45% of the country’s population.) • The Resource and Data base management Unit, Ministry of Social Welfare Gender and children’s Affairs collated data per 13 districts in 2005. Recorded a total of 194,364 persons living with disabilities. See graph;

6. From the graph, a total of 92,174 are females (47.4%). • UNIPSIL report on the rights of persons with disabilities say “the national data is incomplete and sometimes contradictory. The data varies from 2.4% to 20% of the national population. Though no nationwide reliable data is available from government, this shows that there is large under-served population of persons with disabilities including children due to the war. The persons with disabilities are faced with problems like social, political, cultural barriers and poverty. • In addition little is known about persons with learning disabilities, mental illness and multiple disabilities. Pa Kamara – A war amputee and blind father of six (6) children begging on the street of Freetown and lives in Rokel Village 10km from Freetown

7. FORMS OF DISABILITIES • Physical difficulties or mobility restriction e.g. poliomyelitis • Sensory difficulties e.g. deaf and dumb • Learning and developmental difficulties e.g. slow learner • Behavioral difficulties e.g. Autism • Mood and affect difficulties • Neurological difficulties e.g. Stroke Most of these forms are not even recognized in Sierra Leone e.g. an autistic girl Gifton Wright won Gold medal for three years in the Para-Olympic and was never recognized.

8. PERCEPTIONS ABOUT DISABILITY IN SIERRA LEONE BEFORE THE WAR • Disability is the devil’s work connected to beliefs about a bird or a snake that visit pregnant women • It is an inherited ancestral spirit visiting generation to generation • It is a curse • Alcoholism • Abject poverty

9. Situation During the War • Persons with mental disabilities difficulties were killed as they were considered ‘Spies’ • Most persons with disabilities were abandoned by Parents or Guardians. • Person with disabilities were used as Sex Slaves, Human Shield and most victims of polio were used as Combatants. • Sharp increase in war related disabilities, caused by the mutilating of limbs by warring factions as a form of intimidating the civilian population. (Handicap International data indicates 20,000 war caused disabled) Even babies below the age of one were not spared.(See TRC-SL Report 2004)

10. ISSUES FACED BY THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES POPULATION AFTER THE WAR

11. 1. SOCIAL PARTICIPATION • Because of the increase in persons with disabilities population, the war triggered awareness about the rights of people living with disabilities. Thus helping to change the mindset of the general populace and the persons with disabilities themselves. They now have recognized advocacy groups, two(2) disabled people have served in the Parliament of Sierra Leone and amputee football team. • They are often isolated, stigmatized or marginalized from social interaction even by family members. • A large number ended their marriages because their partners become disabled during the war. • Some were abandoned by their families after the war. • Women and girls with disabilities continue to suffer sexual and emotional abuse from the communities they find themselves because having a vulnerability such as disability puts them at greater risk of protection concerns such as abuse. • Domestic actives are very complicated for Persons with disabilities living by themselves. Especially the amputees. E.g. Fetching water, etc…

12. 2. EDUCATION • According to UNICEF MICS 2005 41% of children in Sierra Leone attend school while 300,000 children do not attend school. 76% of children with disabilities however do not attend school. • Large drop-outs among children with disabilities because of relocation, physical, psychological and mental status. • This large drop-out are also made up of children from families with disabilities. • No pre-school education for all forms of children with disabilities • No support to persons with disabilities for tertiary or technical education. • Persons with disabilities still go through most of the day walking or pushed about because Vehicles do not have spaces for wheelchairs and drivers complain of time wasting. • Very few specialized institutions with trained personnel and equipment for children living with disabilities; E.g. School for the blind, Deaf and Dumb (Some subsidies are requested from Parents).

13. EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME • People with severe disabilities have no job opportunities. • Even those qualified are not prioritized. • Child labor and exploitation prevalent among children with disabilities and children from families with disabilities. • Most persons living with disabilities main sources of income is through begging. • Photo taken in Freetown. Note: 9yr old disabled boy Mohamed in apprenticeship

14. HEALTH AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH • Increase of drug abuse by Persons with disabilities reported by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in 2010. • Limited specialized medical facilities but not without a fee. E.g.:- Depreciated Prosthesis have to be paid for replacement. • Women and girls with disabilities reports Fistula problems because of abuse and exploitations. • Only children under the age of 5yrs and pregnant women have access to free medical health facilities.. • Free Mental Facilities (only one mental home and one mental Doctor in Sierra Leone) • 16.4% of persons with disabilities have no access to healthcare – Leonard Cheshire report on Disability in and around urban areas of Sierra Leone

15. GOVERNMENT OF SIERRA LEONE INTERVENTION FOR THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES POPULATION (RHETORIC VERSUS REALITY) • Some cash support to the war affected disabled ($75 micro- grant) – Reparation . • The 2011 disability Act has been enacted which will tend to increase participation of the disabled in community life. This is the domestication of the UN Convention of People Living with disability – yet to be rolled out/popularized • 2004 Education Acts – Free Basic Education – still do not prohibitive school charges imposed by school authorities • Free medical care for pregnant women, lactating mothers and under five children(Requires more funds to prioritize vulnerable population) • Access to justice for all – more work to be done for the poor, person with disabilities and marginalized • Anti-trafficking Acts 2005 enacted, but some children with disabilities still engaged in begging, used as lead in criminal activities such as drug trafficking, and robbery

16. RECOMMENDATIONS • Popularize and implement the disability act 2011 • Detail Research on nation-wide disability status • Advocate for the allocation of substantive budget • Social protection and services for the severely disabled • Promote pre school education for children with disabilities • Inclusive reconstruction of pro-disabled social facilities through lobby bilateral and multi-lateral developmental agencies • Promote shared learning for specialized impairment

17. KEY MESSAGES • The war did not only increase the population of Persons with disabilities, but worsened their situation in all forms-mental, physical, emotional, economical…. • Although there is no credible national data on Disability issues, the rights of Persons with disabilities remain a huge challenge in Sierra Leone • There are limited social services for people with various disabilities • Government lacks the capacity to respond to the various needs of Persons with disabilities populace. • Government, civil society, NGO’s and partners have the moral obligation to uphold and defend the rights of Persons with disabilities . • There is a deliberate link in Sierra Leone between Disability and abject poverty. Therefore GOSL, local and international partners should assist to break the cycle of intergenerational poverty whereby helping to attain the MDGs and PRSP.

18. THANKS FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!!