Disability And Social Justice In Kenya

Disability in Africa has received significant attention as a dimension of global development and humanitarian initiatives. Little international attention is given, however, to the ways in which disability is discussed and addressed in specific countries in Africa. Little is known also about the ways in which persons with disabilities have advocated for themselves over the past one hundred years and how their needs were or were not met in locations across the continent. Kenya has been on the forefront of disability activism and disability rights since the middle of the twentieth century. The country was among the first African states to create a legal framework addressing the rights of persons with disabilities, namely the Persons with Disabilities Act of 2003. Kenya, however, has a much longer history of institutions and organizations that are dedicated to addressing the specific needs of persons with disabilities, and substantial developments have occurred since the introduction of the legal framework in 2003. Disability and Social Justice in Kenya: Scholars, Policymakers, and Activists in Conversation is the first interdisciplinary and multivocal study of its kind to review achievements and challenges related to the situation of persons with disabilities in Kenya today, in light of the country’s longer history of disability and the wide range of local practices and institutions. It brings together scholars, activists, and policymakers who comment on topics including education, the role of activism, the legal framework, culture, the impact of the media, and the importance of families and the community.

This interdisciplinary and multivocal study reviews achievements and challenges related to the situation of persons with disabilities in Kenya today, in light of the country's longer history of disability and the wide range of local practices and institutions.

Inclusion as Social Justice: Theory and Practice in African Higher Education unravels the practical dimensions and complexities involved in the implementation of social justice in African higher education systems in the broader theoretical context of epistemological dynamics working for or against diverse student populations in higher education.

In Challenging Social Exclusion: Multi-sectoral Approaches to Realising Social Justice in East Africa contributing authors interrogate the question of social justice in East Africa, unravelling how people who live on the margins of society are cheated of their livelihoods. The work delves into thorny issues in social justice and recommends ways of addressing them. Based on recent field research, the book is informed by views from latest scholarly works. Issues about social justice from various areas including judiciary, health, land law, education and legal institutions are presented and explained. The authors, through examples from different sectors across East Africa, establish that attainment of social justice is the foremost concern of the legal sector in relation to social protection and resource sharing. They show that the justice, law and order institutions are means through which social justice should be accessed without discrimination of the poor, marginalised and vulnerable people. Contributing writers are scholars from various backgrounds including development studies, social work and law. The book is written in clear language and well organised. It addresses the needs of social workers, local government leaders, women and gender activists, the legal fraternity and the general reader.

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for Nonfiction "...an essential and engaging look at recent disability history."— Buzzfeed One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human. A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn’t built for all of us and of one woman’s activism—from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington—Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann’s lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society. Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy’s struggle for equality began early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a “fire hazard” to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher’s license because of her paralysis, Judy’s actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people. As a young woman, Judy rolled her wheelchair through the doors of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco as a leader of the Section 504 Sit-In, the longest takeover of a governmental building in US history. Working with a community of over 150 disabled activists and allies, Judy successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled peoples’ rights, sparking a national movement and leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann’s memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.

The International Forum for Social Development was a 3 year project undertaken by the United Nations. Department of Economic and Social Affairs between 2001 and 2004 to promote international cooperation for social development and supporting developing countries and social groups not benefiting from the globalization process. This publication provides an overview and interpretation of the discussions and debates that occurred at the four meetings of the Forum for Social Development held at the United Nations headquarters in New York, within the framework of the implementation of the outcome of the World Summit for Social Development.

Beaudry shows how the social contract fails to take account of the moral status of people with severe intellectual disabilities.

This book is about being disabled and being poor and the social, cultural and political processes that link these two aspects of living in what has been characterised as a "vicious circle" (Yeo & Moore 2003). It is also about the strengths that people show when living with disability and being poor. How they try to overcome their problems and making the best out of what little they have. This book will appeal to academics, postgraduates and policymakers in disability studies, development studies, poverty and social exclusion