A Voice For the Voiceless
The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change.
We are currently recruiting graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.
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> Gulu Disabled Per...
> The Timeline
June 2008
July 2008
Program Development in Uganda:
AP Peace Fellow Annelieke van de Wiel (Amsterdam University) starts work in Gulu. AP and SC also meet with other potential partners, including Peace Tree Network, Human Rights Network, Uganda Victims Foundation, and Sohura.
August- September 2008
Program Development in Uganda:
Ms van de Wiel and Mendi Njonjo, AP’s Director of Africa Programs, begin work with the GDPU. Survivor Corps posts job descriptions for country coordinators, and hires an experienced advocate for the post of country coordinator in Uganda – John Francis Onyango.
GDPU tentatively identifies the right of persons to access public buildings and services as a priority for PWDs in Gulu and Amuru districts.
AP starts collecting profiles of survivors – a task that will continue and expand throughout the campaign.
Survivor Corps identifies advocates for a forthcoming Cluster Munitions Conference in Kampala, and an advocacy workshop for Gulu. Twenty-seven advocates attend the meeting on October 24 and 25. SC also convenes a workshop on the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The meetings demand that the convening hotel improve facilities for people with disability. The meeting attracts media coverage.
AP’s Mendi Njonjo conducts an in-depth assessment of the ICT and information needs of the GDPU and its members, and Peace Fellow Annelieke van de Wiel starts shoulder-to-shoulder ICT training with a GDPU techie.
October 2008
Campaign Development:
Twenty-five disability advocates are trained in disability rights, CRPD, and accessibility in Uganda at a workshop in Kampala. A second workshop is held in Gulu, at which participants develop specific campaign objectives and identify buildings that should be accessible. They agree on the need for a rights-based approach to carrying out this advocacy. A graduation ‘ceremony’ is held for participants at the end of the Gulu workshop. Participants petition District officials to support the resettlement of disabled internally displaced persons (IDPs) and District officials pledge to provide iron sheets (for roofing).
SC and AP sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the GDPU. SC signs a grant agreement with Caritas counseling center to support peer-to-peer trainings in Gulu district.
November 2008
Campaign Development:
Working with the outline provided at the Gulu workshop, SC and AP work intensively with the GDPU to develop five specific campaign goals, together with related activities and a time-frame. These are then discussed between the offices in Uganda and Kampala, and fine-tuned.
AP profiles disability advocates, for posting on website
December 2008
Advocacy in Action – Accessibility:
GDPU, SC and AP form an audit team to assess the accessibility of buildings. The team receives permission to include public buildings. The team meets with district officials about accessibility, including the Deputy District Commissioner (whose office is undergoing renovation). They are assured that the building will be accessible to people with disabilities.
The team meets with sub-county officials from Paico (Gulu District ) and Lamogi (Amuru District). These officials sit on the committees that will determine the community needs for the sub-county. They are therefore in a key position to decide what items are included in sub-county budgets.
AP/SC brief a visiting delegation from USAID in Washington, headed by Michael Hess DCHA. Leaders from the GDPU are invited to a USAID reception in Gulu.
GDPU/SC organizes training in Lalogi for these officials, on accessibility and on the rights of persons with disabilities (December 28). The representatives make a solemn written commitment to provide for accessibility not just for health centers, but for water points, schools and the sub-country chief’s offices. The declaration is published.
Disability advocates follow up on the meeting in the areas where they live.
January 2009
Advocacy in Action – Accessibility:
SC and AP train the GDPU audit team in how to carry out an audit. SC/GDPU also approach the site foreman at a health center in Gulu and argue for an extension to include accessible ramps. The building engineer, foreman and audit team agree on the need for the modifications.
AVSI, an Italian NGO, pledges to construct five ramps on key buildings in Gulu district, and invite the GDPU accessibility team to help them identify and advice on how these ramps should be constructed. John Francis Onyango is invited to attend parish budget meetings where accessibility is presented as a community need.
SC, AP and GDPU participate in the Amuru district budget conference meeting. The meeting is called to compare budget notes from all sub-counties in Amuru district with a view of aligning the various budgets. The campaign team makes a case for accessibility. Several other sub-counties in Amuru district ask for the same support given to the sub-counties in Lamogi.
A team from AP and SC follows up with Mr. Mike Hess, DCHA at USAID in Washington and receives a strong statement of interest in the program.
Advocacy in Action – Justice and Reconciliation:
SC, AP meet with the outreach staff of the ICC field office in Kampala to ask that survivors with disabilities are included in ICC programming – another key goal of the campaign.
Regional Activities:
Six potential partners and the SC Coordinator attend peer-to-peer training in Kigali, Rwanda
February 2009
Advocacy in Action – Accessibility:
SC Board members visit Gulu and meet with key policy-makers, including the Prime Minister of Ker Kwaro Acholi (The Acholi Cultural Institution) and elder of the Ker Kwaro Acholi. GDPU staff brief the Board on the need to include PWDs into traditional justice mechanisms. The PM asks the GDPU to convene a group of representatives to meet with elders and discuss implementation.
The SC board and GDPU audit team jointly carry out an audit of a health center in Gulu. In Paicho, the Board sees the result of earlier advocacy, in the form of a building under construction with a ramp. The Board meeting enables SC staff from Washington to meet with stakeholders in the campaign, including representative from Parliament who pledges to support the efforts of PWDs in the North.
Fundraising evening in Kampala: Peace Fellow Annelieke van der Weil organizes a fundraising event at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala for the GDPU’s program. The program aims to raise money for disabled IDPs, to help them return home and raises $5,176, excluding costs. Several Ugandan artists perform, including two who are themselves hearing-impaired and the event attracts extensive media coverage. The event is underwritten by 13 corporate sponsors. This is the first time that the Ugandan private sector has directly contributed to a disability campaign and represents a significant advance for Ugandan philanthropy.
Advocacy in Action – Justice and Reconciliation:
The ICC field staff in Kampala begin special programs for survivors of the war (with disabilities) in northern Uganda. They hold a seminar for survivors in Soroti District in Eastern Uganda and make plans for similar workshops in Gulu, Lira, Amuru and Adjumani districts. The survivors are given information on how to participate in the ICC proceedings if they so wish, and on the process for receiving reparations once an accused person is convicted.
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The Timeline
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The campaign to overcome disability in began in the spring of 2008, when Survivor Corps and The Advocacy Project joined together to support the survivors of conflict in the Great Lakes region of central Africa.
May 2008
Survivor Corps (SC) and The Advocacy Project (AP) undertake the first of several preparatory missions to Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi, to sound out interest in a program of support for survivors of conflict. Extensive interviews are undertaken in Uganda with, amongst others: Uganda National Association of the Deaf; Members of Parliament, ISIS-Wicce, Platform for Labour Action, Friends of Orphans, Spinal Injury Association, Human Rights Network, African Centre for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, Gulu Disabled Persons Union (GDPU), Human Rights Focus, and aid agencies.
The team receives an enthusiastic request from the GDPU to support the campaign for disability rights in the north.
June 2008
On a second assessment trip, to Rwanda, the team meets with Avega, Ibuka, Trust & Care, Uyisenga N’manzi, American Friends Society, Quakers, Association for Landmine Survivors & Amputees in Rwanda (ALSAR), and Friends Peace House.
On an assessment Trip to Burundi, the team meets with Ligue Iteka, Association for Peace and Human Rights, Quakers, USAID, Association Bongeste, and American Friends Service Center.
July 2008
Program Development in Uganda:
AP Peace Fellow Annelieke van de Wiel (Amsterdam University) starts work in Gulu. AP and SC also meet with other potential partners, including Peace Tree Network, Human Rights Network, Uganda Victims Foundation, and Sohura.
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| Annelieke van de Wiel with Denis and Patrick at Awer Internally Displaced Peoples (IDP) camp in northern Uganda. |
August- September 2008
Program Development in Uganda:
Ms van de Wiel and Mendi Njonjo, AP’s Director of Africa Programs, begin work with the GDPU. Survivor Corps posts job descriptions for country coordinators, and hires an experienced advocate for the post of country coordinator in Uganda – John Francis Onyango.
GDPU tentatively identifies the right of persons to access public buildings and services as a priority for PWDs in Gulu and Amuru districts.
AP starts collecting profiles of survivors – a task that will continue and expand throughout the campaign.
Survivor Corps identifies advocates for a forthcoming Cluster Munitions Conference in Kampala, and an advocacy workshop for Gulu. Twenty-seven advocates attend the meeting on October 24 and 25. SC also convenes a workshop on the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The meetings demand that the convening hotel improve facilities for people with disability. The meeting attracts media coverage.
AP’s Mendi Njonjo conducts an in-depth assessment of the ICT and information needs of the GDPU and its members, and Peace Fellow Annelieke van de Wiel starts shoulder-to-shoulder ICT training with a GDPU techie.
 |
| Prosy trying her skills during a wheelchair distribution at GDPU |
October 2008
Campaign Development:
Twenty-five disability advocates are trained in disability rights, CRPD, and accessibility in Uganda at a workshop in Kampala. A second workshop is held in Gulu, at which participants develop specific campaign objectives and identify buildings that should be accessible. They agree on the need for a rights-based approach to carrying out this advocacy. A graduation ‘ceremony’ is held for participants at the end of the Gulu workshop. Participants petition District officials to support the resettlement of disabled internally displaced persons (IDPs) and District officials pledge to provide iron sheets (for roofing).
SC and AP sign Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) with the GDPU. SC signs a grant agreement with Caritas counseling center to support peer-to-peer trainings in Gulu district.
 |
| Elyphansia Nyaga, a visually-impaired woman who cares for seven grandchildren, received five cups of maize during the month to feed her family in the IDP camps. |
November 2008
Campaign Development:
Working with the outline provided at the Gulu workshop, SC and AP work intensively with the GDPU to develop five specific campaign goals, together with related activities and a time-frame. These are then discussed between the offices in Uganda and Kampala, and fine-tuned.
AP profiles disability advocates, for posting on website
December 2008
Advocacy in Action – Accessibility:
GDPU, SC and AP form an audit team to assess the accessibility of buildings. The team receives permission to include public buildings. The team meets with district officials about accessibility, including the Deputy District Commissioner (whose office is undergoing renovation). They are assured that the building will be accessible to people with disabilities.
The team meets with sub-county officials from Paico (Gulu District ) and Lamogi (Amuru District). These officials sit on the committees that will determine the community needs for the sub-county. They are therefore in a key position to decide what items are included in sub-county budgets.
AP/SC brief a visiting delegation from USAID in Washington, headed by Michael Hess DCHA. Leaders from the GDPU are invited to a USAID reception in Gulu.
GDPU/SC organizes training in Lalogi for these officials, on accessibility and on the rights of persons with disabilities (December 28). The representatives make a solemn written commitment to provide for accessibility not just for health centers, but for water points, schools and the sub-country chief’s offices. The declaration is published.
Disability advocates follow up on the meeting in the areas where they live.
January 2009
Advocacy in Action – Accessibility:
SC and AP train the GDPU audit team in how to carry out an audit. SC/GDPU also approach the site foreman at a health center in Gulu and argue for an extension to include accessible ramps. The building engineer, foreman and audit team agree on the need for the modifications.
AVSI, an Italian NGO, pledges to construct five ramps on key buildings in Gulu district, and invite the GDPU accessibility team to help them identify and advice on how these ramps should be constructed. John Francis Onyango is invited to attend parish budget meetings where accessibility is presented as a community need.
SC, AP and GDPU participate in the Amuru district budget conference meeting. The meeting is called to compare budget notes from all sub-counties in Amuru district with a view of aligning the various budgets. The campaign team makes a case for accessibility. Several other sub-counties in Amuru district ask for the same support given to the sub-counties in Lamogi.
A team from AP and SC follows up with Mr. Mike Hess, DCHA at USAID in Washington and receives a strong statement of interest in the program.
 |
| Entrance to the Patiko Health Clinic provides limited access for PWDs. |
Advocacy in Action – Justice and Reconciliation:
SC, AP meet with the outreach staff of the ICC field office in Kampala to ask that survivors with disabilities are included in ICC programming – another key goal of the campaign.
Regional Activities:
Six potential partners and the SC Coordinator attend peer-to-peer training in Kigali, Rwanda
February 2009
Advocacy in Action – Accessibility:
SC Board members visit Gulu and meet with key policy-makers, including the Prime Minister of Ker Kwaro Acholi (The Acholi Cultural Institution) and elder of the Ker Kwaro Acholi. GDPU staff brief the Board on the need to include PWDs into traditional justice mechanisms. The PM asks the GDPU to convene a group of representatives to meet with elders and discuss implementation.
The SC board and GDPU audit team jointly carry out an audit of a health center in Gulu. In Paicho, the Board sees the result of earlier advocacy, in the form of a building under construction with a ramp. The Board meeting enables SC staff from Washington to meet with stakeholders in the campaign, including representative from Parliament who pledges to support the efforts of PWDs in the North.
Fundraising evening in Kampala: Peace Fellow Annelieke van der Weil organizes a fundraising event at the Sheraton Hotel in Kampala for the GDPU’s program. The program aims to raise money for disabled IDPs, to help them return home and raises $5,176, excluding costs. Several Ugandan artists perform, including two who are themselves hearing-impaired and the event attracts extensive media coverage. The event is underwritten by 13 corporate sponsors. This is the first time that the Ugandan private sector has directly contributed to a disability campaign and represents a significant advance for Ugandan philanthropy.
 |
| Annelieke van de Wiel and Miss Uganda Dorah Mwima raffel Air Uganda tickets to support the return home of disabled IDPs. |
Advocacy in Action – Justice and Reconciliation:
The ICC field staff in Kampala begin special programs for survivors of the war (with disabilities) in northern Uganda. They hold a seminar for survivors in Soroti District in Eastern Uganda and make plans for similar workshops in Gulu, Lira, Amuru and Adjumani districts. The survivors are given information on how to participate in the ICC proceedings if they so wish, and on the process for receiving reparations once an accused person is convicted.
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