SAFOD - Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled

NOTICE is hereby given that we will close for the Christmas and New Year Holidays on the 16th December, 2011 and open business on the 3rd January, 2012.

May law take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New 2012. To those who will travel to other places, have safe and sound journeys

A vacancy has arisen for a Director General who enjoys working with people with disabilities. The incumbent will be located at its Head Office in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe

Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) is a regional organisation coordinating and strengthening organisations of the disabled people in 10 countries within the SADC region.

A vacancy has arisen for a Director General who enjoys working with people with disabilities. The incumbent will be located at its Head Office in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.

The Director General will be accountable to the Regional Executive Council (REC)

Ø Excellent communications, written, fundraising, analytical skills and computer literacy

Applications including CVs, reference letters should reach the following by not later than 31 December 2011 to:

After the 8th DPI World Assembly in Durban, South Africa in October, 2011, here is the outcome.

Although the right to "personal mobility" is not referenced in such terms in other international human rights treaties, the concept is closely tied to other human rights such as the right to liberty of movement. Whilst the right to liberty of movement focuses on such issues as the right of people to move freely within the borders of a country, the right to personal mobility looks more closely at the means through which people with disabilities are able to effect such movement. In particular it examines support for the independent movement of the individual.

What barriers to the right to personal mobility are faced by people with disabilities?

The ability of people with disabilities to move about freely in their home, place of work, community etc. is a key component to the enjoyment of many other human rights, including but not limited to:

Furthermore, the ability to be independently mobile can be critical to people with disabilities living lives of dignity and respect.

Article 20 of the CRPD takes a comprehensive approach to the issue of personal mobility and obligates States Parties to do the following:

Article 20 is of course interrelated and interdependent upon a variety of other human rights within the CRPD, and should be interpreted and implemented in light of those other human rights. Such rights include, but are not limited to, Articles 9 (Accessibility), 18 (Liberty of movement and nationality), 19 (Living independently and being included in the community), 26 (Habilitation and rehabilitation), 28 (Adequate standard of living and social protection).

The Daily Telegraph reported in April 2011 that Shuaib Chalklen, the United Nations' Special Rapporteur on Disability, attempted to board a Lufthansa airplane travelling from London to Geneva. According to the report, the airline informed Chalklen who is paraplegic that he would not be able to travel unattended, even though he had done so for 15 years. The European Disability Forum later reported that the incident was a "clear violation" of European Union rules governing the rights of persons with disabilities and urged the commission to stop such "discriminatory behaviour."

The intent of DPI is not to single out Lufthansa. Chalklen is one of many who have lodged complaints against numerous airlines. However, Lufthansa has reportedly received 125 complaints last year alone.

Members of DPI have some horrific stories to tell about problems regarding airline travel. What is common among all complaints is the fact that airline staff has no training on disability issues, and people with disabilities are not granted the same right to mobility and access as other travelers. Assumptions are made about the capabilities of persons with disabilities without consulting the person with a disability; when they do speak up, their voices are ignored. Why are their rights still being violated? What about Articles 20, 9, and 18 of the CRPD?

DPI urges you to take action today. Please follow this link to sign the petition that demands action:

Phiri was born in Malawi on 4 May 1955. His parents then relocated to Zimbabwe in search of work. In the days of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland men from both Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) used to come down to Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) in search of work in mines and on farms in particular. In the 1960s Phiri and his siblings were not attending school as their parents could not afford to raise the required school fees. The parents were getting peanuts, as Phiri would recall many years later. While others went to school Phiri and a younger brother would take to the street to play.

One fateful day Phiri and his younger brother were playing on the road when a car hit him. He lost consciousness and was rushed in that state to Harare Hospital in Salisbury (now Harare) There he came to and the doctors who attended to him had no choice but to amputate both his legs as injuries to his legs were beyond repair. Initially Phiri walked with the aid of artificial legs which he later abandoned in favour of the wheelchair. “When I lost my legs in a car accident at the age of ten, I was given artificial limbs that made me look awkward as my body was not proportionate to my artificial legs that I was given at the hospital”

Thinking there was no hope following their son’s injuries, his parents abandoned him at the hospital. It was Sister Annel d’Avray who took care of the abandoned son. He referred Phiri to the Jairos Jiri Centre in Nguboyenja, Bulawayo. Phiri was to remember this lady who came to his rescue: “I remember one Christmas when she sent me a very beautiful present, a watch, my first watch.” From time to time she used to send him clothes, toys, and a wheelchair. Phiri went to school late. He attended the Jairos Jiri Primary school and in just five years he completed primary education. Phiri then proceeded to the Anglican Boys School outside Bulawayo. The school, Cyrene was headed by Father Ewbank who was doubtful if Phiri would be able to wheel himself around. Be that as it may, he was admitted in 1971, but found the school was architecturally unable to accommodate his wheelchair

Cyrene had always had Art as part of its curriculum. That was to have some impact on the impressionable Phiri who would later on specialize in Art and Design. In 1974 he completed “O” Levels and proceeded to do “A” Levels at Mzilikazi High School.. After completing “A” Levels, and with the assistance of Mzilikazi High Head, a Mr Darwin, he secured a place at the Bulawayo Polytechnic. He joined the School of Art and Building. After three years he graduated with a Diploma in Art and Design. Armed with a Diploma he thought he would be marketable. Little did he imagine he would face many challenges most of them resulting from prejudices towards persons with disabilities. At one firm in the industrial area of Bulawayo he was asked, “Do you need assistance when you use a toilet.”

Phiri was exasperated and wheeled himself out of the premises without a word by way of response. Fellow students had by then got employment. He got frustration after frustration. On the eve of independence in January 1980, the indomitable Phiri called a press conference at which he exposed his predicament. It paid the dividends.The Ministry of Social Amenities and Housing came to his rescue. He was taken on board as a trainee draughtsman. Two years on he moved to the private sector. Finding the job description somewhat vague, he decided it was time to move on.

This time he moved to the Rhodesia Railways (now the National Railways of Zimbabwe). He worked on the drawing board. The name of Alexander Phiri was not to hit newspaper headlines because he was a fine draughtsman, but due to his relentless activism in the politics of the disabled. Even in his days as youth he got involved in the affairs of the Council for the Welfare for the Disabled (CWD). Active in that pioneering organization were persons such as Joshua Malinga, Obadiah Moyo, Livion Nyathi (later Njini) Ronah Moyo, Dr Mthupha, Chrispen Manyuke and Jabulani Manombe Ncube, among several others.

When the National Council of Disabled person of Zimbabwe was set up in the 70s Phiri got involved in its work from the outset. He held strong, but progressive views with regard to disability. Interviewed by Cathleen of the Sunday News in 1993 Phiri had this to say, “There is absolutely nothing wrong with being disabled. I do not regret being disabled, in fact I am what I am today because of my disability. This was a blessing in disguise.

Later the Council for the Welfare for the Disabled (GWD) became the National Council of the Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ). Phiri became its chair from 1985 to 2000. At the time of his death he, as Director General for the Southern African Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) he was preparing for a symposium later this year for the African Network on Evidence-to-Action in Disability(AFriNEAD). The symposium was to receive and discuss research findings on disabilities that have been made over the years. The venue for the symposium is the Victoria Falls. On the choice of Zimbabwe to host the symposium, Phiri said, “This is a great opportunity for the organization and the country at large as it will provide us with the platform to show the world that we can do it.”

Always ideologically alert, Phiri and his colleagues in the disability movement criticized western donors for their tendency to dictate economic policies to developing countries as a condition for financial support. That, they argued, contributed to the underdevelopment of the region. Phiri soon realized that the disabled were being marginalized. That made him start campaigning for the rights of the disabled. “Society tended to prescribe the way disabled people should be treated hence their marginalization.” He lamented the lack of political will to implement policies on disability.Through his efforts in the National Council of the Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ), the well traveled Phiri campaigned vigorously for the mainstreaming of disability issues.

His efforts were rewarded in 1992 when the Zimbabwe government passed the Disabled Persons Act which sought to deal with various issues pertaining to disability. As part of the Act, there was to be created a Disability Board and Phiri became its first chair person. Through his efforts and those of his colleagues Ronah Moyo was appointed in 1995 as Member of Parliament for the disabled. Later Joshua Malinga was appointed to the Senate, once again a result of vigorous campaigning for the rights of the disabled. One day Phiri boarded a bus to Marondera. He was asked to pay for his wheelchair. He complained. “That is the height of inconsideration. The wheelchair is like part of me and yet others are not made to pay extra for their legs.”

Phiri preferred the integration of the disabled into society. It was in that vein that he stood firm against the establishment of the disabled in Chegutu. As chair of the Zimbabwe Federation of the Disabled, Phiri advocated for the Principles of Independent Living. Their view was that the disabled are not patients, nor are they objects for charity. Instead, they are citizens with equal rights. Phiri lobbied for the holding of the congress of the Disabled People International (DPI) to be held on the African continent for the first time ever, later this year.

At the time of his death Phiri had many irons on the fire. He was on the indigenization sub-group for the disabled. He was a repertoire during the outreach programme. His departure will have serious ramifications in the region and beyond as he was an international campaigner of rare qualities. The disability activism will never be the same again.

Members of the Phiri family, dignitaries, Government Officials, comrades from the disability movement, comrades from the NGO Fratenity, Comrades from Regional Executive Committee of SAFOD, comrades and Friends, I am very saddened to stand before you today to bid Farewell to this great fighter of disability rights.

Alexander Mwanza Phiri was known to us from a very tender age in the late 60”s when he came to Jairos Jiri Centre in Bulawayo where he did his primary education and went to Cyrene Secondary School. He later went Bulawayo Technical College where he did his Draghtmanship and later worked at the Railways. From the Railways he joined SAFOD as Secretary General and later uplifted to Director General of the same organization a position he held to the time of his departure from this earth.

Alexander Phiri was one of the pioneers in the fight against the marginalization of disabled people in Zimbabwe. I will not repeat what has been mentioned in the Press because Alexander Phiri’s works can fill libraries. He was an able Revolutionary who led by example. He was President of National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe for over 20years. During that time he brought awareness of disabled people particularlythose in the rural areas as he travelled far and wide throughout the country and was instrumental in the formation of over 70 branches of which over 50 were in the rural areas. It was through his wide travel that he leant the full suffering and exclusion of disabled people and decided to take on the fight for disabled people by championing their cause to have education, to have some income through right to employment, the right to authopaedic appliances, the right to shelter and many other rights.

Alexander and his other comrades who include Cde Joshua Malinga were instrumental in the enactment of the Disabled Persons Act of 1992 and travelled to New York with the then Minister of Social Welfare who is now the Honorable Vice President of Zimbabwe Cde John Nkomo to represent the country at the United Nations on disability issues. During his term of office at National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe Alexander persuaded the State President Cde R.G. Mugabe to appoint a Disabled Member of Parliament to represent interests of disabled people, and indeed the first ever MP for the disabled Mrs Rona Moyo was appointed. Unfortunately it was just for one term of 5 years and that is why we are now fighting to get recognized through the new constitution being drafted. Alexander was one of those in the writing of the new constitution and was only hampered by the illness which took his life.

We are deeply saddened that Alexander did not live to see the fruits of his sweat because in Zimbabwe he had negotiated for the Funding of eight Disabled Peoples Organisations by the African Development Foundation (ADF) for Income Generating Projects to the tune of a total of US$1million and five organisations have already received their first disbursements of the funds.These organisations can only pay a tribute to Mr Phiri by running them successfully and for the benefit of their membership.

When he left The National Council as President he took the struggle to the Southern African Region and caused the formation of Federations of Disabled people in each of the 10 countries in Southern Africa which are Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In some of these countries there is representation of disabled people across the board including Government and local Government through lobbying by Federations which Alexander was coordinating and empowering. Most countries in the SADC have ratified The UN Convention on Disabled People and Zimbabwe can pay Alexander Phiri a lasting tribute by ratifying the convention. Southern Africa has the strongest Regional structures on Disability in Africa which Alexander built. Internationally Alexander Phiri was known throughout as a consistant and strong advocate and eloquent spokesperson for disabled people. Indeed messages are pouring from all continents to express their shock at the void which this great man has left and their condolences have failed to quench our grief.

To the Phiri Family we say thank you for having given us your great son to fight for us and we are sorry we lost him too soon but take solace that we shall follow his footsteps for he was a man of the people. He even helped some people who were not disabled because they had seen great vision. Alexander Phiri had a disabled child. Maybe God wanted him to lead by example because the care which he took on his disabled daughter Angeline was exceptional. We want all those parents with disabled children to take a leaf from Alexander Phiri. We also urge the Phiri family to please look after Angeline as Alexander did and continue to love, care and provide for Memory who is halfway her University course and little Tafadzwa who is still at Primary school level.

We say Good bye Alexander, we shall always remember you through your great works you did for us.