The
Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD) works with its
national affiliate, the Angolan Federation of Associations of Disabled
People (FAPED), which coordinates all activities through its member DPOs
in Angola. Angola acceded to the
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
(CRPD) on 19 March 2014.
As of June 2017, this movement of persons with disabilities in Angola
had been active for 77 years. After the independence of Angola, the
movement was led by former military personnel who acquired injuries due
to armed conflict, hence the Government created the then Secretary of
State of the Former Combatants. It was further learnt that in the 90’s,
SAFOD invited an Angolan Delegation that participated in the SAFOD
General Assembly and directed the Delegation to create a Federation of
Disabled Associations of Angola. In December 2000, FAPED was created,
which brought together 26 member associations.
At the
Southern Africa Disability Round Table Forum organized by
SAFOD in South Africa, from June 20 to 23, 2017, FAPED reported that
there were 250,000 persons with disabilities in the country, according
to official estimates. But according to the
African Disability
Rights Yearbook (ADRY), the Ministry for Social Assistance
and Reintegration puts the figure at 170 000, while the League for the
Support of the Disabled (LARDEF) claims that the number is 1,2 million.
However, according to statistics the ADRY obtained in 2014 from the
Instituto de Segurança Scocial (INSS), the organisation
responsible for social security, there were 170 000 people with
disabilities in Angola.
The INSS further reported the following most prevalent forms of
disability in Angola:
- Motor disabilities (62 per cent). Of those
with motor disabilities, 75 per cent were due to amputation
resulting from contact with explosive devices, especially mines,
while 22 per cent suffered from poliomyelitis;
- Sensory disabilities (28 per cent); and
- Mental disabilities (10 per cent).
Throughout the existence of FAPED, many activities related to
disability have been carried out. However, it appears not much has been
done so far specifically regarding the assistive technology advocacy for
persons with disabilities. Much of the disability work has focused on
other disability issues other than assistive technology.
Unlike in the other nine countries where SAFOD works, in Angola
SINTEF, SAFOD and FAPED failed to conduct the the Surveys on living
conditions among people with activity limitations in Southern Africa,
which had a strong component on assistive technology. In the absence of
the surveys, Angola is the only country where it has proved difficult to
garner any useful data related to assistive technology. A literature
review also seems to suggest that little research - if at all any - has
been conducted in Angola to establish the assistive technology situation
in the country. For this reason, Angola remains one the main priority
countries for SAFOD to conduct a proper survey either on assistive
technology, or on disability in general but with a component on
assistive technology.