People with disabilities in Togo face many unique challenges. Disability in Togo is often seen as a curse or sign of witchcraft, leading to poor outcomes for people with disabilities. Accessibility in the country is lacking. However, Togo has signed onto the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and has created plans to encourage greater inclusion for people with disabilities in the country.
Census data from 2010 shows that approximately 1.36% of the population of Togo has a disability of some type. [1] Like many other countries in Africa, children in Togo often become disabled due to various complications, disease, poor diet and other causes. [2]
Children who are born with a disability in Togo, like in some other West African countries, can face violence at home, school or from other members of the community. [3] Disability is seen as a sign of witchcraft and is considered taboo by some communities. [4] Other times, the disability is considered the "result of a demon in the family." [2] Children with disabilities might also face neglect at home. [5] Children born with a physical disability are viewed as "a non-human spirit," by some families. [6] Some parents deliberately keep their children out of school to protect them from abuse there. [6] People with disabilities in Togo in general were considered cursed and that the disability could be contagious. [7] Violence against children with disabilities and their deaths often goes unreported to authorities. [4] Often entire families are ostracized because of one family members' disability. [2]
People with mental disabilities in Togo may be chained up in places known as prayer camps. [8] These camps are religious institutions where individuals are restrained, not given psychiatric help and are prayed over in an attempt to heal the individuals. [8] In Togo, there are several prayer camps which use different methods, often based on the camp's head pastors' personality. [8]
There is a lack of inclusion for people with disabilities in leadership positions in Togo. [7] In 2013, Jérémie Yao Vidja, who is visually impaired, became the first person with a disability to run for elected office in Togo and he was later elected to the Togolese National Assembly. [9]
The government in Togo signed on to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2011. [2] In 2016, Togo's Ministry of Social Action created a committee dedicated to "fostering social inclusion for people with disabilities." [10] In 2017, Universal Health Coverage was given to all students living in Togo. [11]
Togo's public buildings are still not fully accommodating to people with physical disabilities. [7] In addition, there is no legislation requiring accessibility in public areas. [12]
People with disabilities were first allowed to attend public schools in the 1970s. [7] Also in the 1970s, German and American charities set up special-needs schools, focusing on students with visual impairment. [7] By 2014, there were nine schools and centers for children with intellectual disabilities, with most located in Lomé. [7] Also by 2014, schools for those with hearing impairment had been created. [7]
Efforts at including students with disabilities has started to increase. In 2014, there were hundreds of students with various physical disabilities were enrolled in universities around Togo, including 27 visually impaired students at the University of Lomé. [7]
Non governmental organizations recognize that they need to work closely with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education in Togo. [2] Humanity & Inclusion (HI), started a trial program in Togo and other African countries to help produce 3D-printed prosthetic limbs for amputees in need. [13]
Participating in sports among people with disabilities is increasing, with hundreds participating in various trials in 2013 leading up to the pan-African competitions. [7] Togo sent a Paralympic athlete, Aliou Bawa, to the 2016 Summer Paralympics. [14]
Parasports are sports played by people with a disability, including physical and intellectual disabilities. Some parasports are forms of adapted physical activities from existing non-disabled sports, while others have been specifically created for persons with a disability and do not have a non-disabled equivalent. Disability exists in four categories: physical, mental, permanent and temporary. At a competitive level, disability sport classifications are applied to allow people of varying abilities to face similar opposition.
Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology.
Special education is the practice of educating students in a way that accommodates their individual differences, disabilities, and special needs. This involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials, and accessible settings. These interventions are designed to help individuals with special needs achieve a higher level of personal self-sufficiency and success in school and in their community, which may not be available if the student were only given access to a typical classroom education.
Mainstreaming, in the context of education, is the practice of placing students with special education needs in a general education classroom during specific time periods based on their skills. This means students who are a part of the special education classroom will join the regular education classroom at certain times which are fitting for the special education student. These students may attend art or physical education in the regular education classrooms. Sometimes these students will attend math and science in a separate classroom, but attend English in a general education classroom. Schools that practice mainstreaming believe that students with special needs who cannot function in a general education classroom to a certain extent belong in the special education environment.
Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with physical or mental disabilities. Ableism characterizes people as they are defined by their disabilities and it also classifies disabled people as people who are inferior to non-disabled people. On this basis, people are assigned or denied certain perceived abilities, skills, or character orientations.
According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 15% of the world's population experience some form of disability or impairment. The proportion of disabled people is much higher in Sierra Leone, a West African country which had emerged from a decade-long civil war back in 2002 where the trademark of the rebel groups was to hack off the limbs of civilians.
Disability sports classification is a system that allows for fair competition between people with different types of disabilities.
Prostitution in Togo is legal and commonplace. Related activities such as solicitation, living off the earnings of prostitution or procuring are prohibited. Punishment is up to 10 years imprisonment if minors or violence is involved.
Togo in West Africa is currently rated as "Partly Free" by Freedom House.
North Korea made its Paralympic Games début at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, sending a single wildcard representative to compete in swimming.
Prayer camps are religious institutions for as an alternative for hospitals for a variety of ailments in Ghana, and Togo. Methods such as being chained up or fasting are used.
Reliable information about disability in North Korea, like other information about social conditions in the country, is difficult to find. As of 2016, North Korea is a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
Les Autres sport classification is system used in disability sport for people with locomotor disabilities not included in other classification systems for people with physical disabilities. The purpose of this system is to facilitate fair competition between people with different types of disabilities, and to give credibility to disability sports. It was designed and managed by International Sports Organization for the Disabled (ISOD) until the 2005 merger with IWAS, when management switched to that organization. Classification is handled on the national level by relevant sport organizations.
Togo competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from 7 to 18 September 2016. The country's participation in Rio marked its debut appearance in the quadrennial event, although it had competed in the Summer Olympics nine times since the 1972 Games. The delegation consisted of a single lightweight powerlifter, Aliou Bawa, who qualified by being issued with a Bipartite Commission Invitation spot by the International Paralympic Committee. Bawa was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Bawa failed to record a mark in the men's 49 kg category after being unable to lift 113 kilograms of weight in his three attempts.
People with disability in Zambia face many unique challenges. The country has been passing laws and policies to help people with disabilities in Zambia, however, social stigma and other factors sometimes interfere in people being able to access services and assistance. In addition, the HIV epidemic in Zambia also has a significant impact on the lives of people with disabilities.
Witchcraft is deeply rooted in many African countries and communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. It has been specifically relevant to Ghana's culture, beliefs, and lifestyle. It continues to shape lives daily and with that it has promoted tradition, fear, violence, and spiritual beliefs. The perceptions on witchcraft change from region to region within Ghana, as well as in other countries in Africa. The commonality is that it is not something to take lightly, and the word spreads fast if there are rumors' surrounding civilians practicing it. The actions taken by local citizens and the government towards witchcraft and violence related to it have also varied within regions in Ghana. Traditional African religions have depicted the universe as a multitude of spirits that are able to be used for good or evil through religion.
People with disability in Liberia face many challenges. The cultural attitude towards disability in Liberia is largely negative. Often, it is seen as the result of witchcraft or as punishment for a person's behavior. However, the government and non-governmental organizations are working towards a more inclusive country for people with disabilities.
There are around 447,600 people with disability in Cuba. A large number of people with disabilities in Cuba have an intellectual disability and about 3.2 percent have a severe disability. The government of Cuba has a medical model of disability in its approach to policies on people with disabilities. Another unique challenge that people with disabilities in the country face is due to the economic embargo of Cuba which has caused shortages in medical materials and assistive technology. The Constitution of Cuba has provisions for protecting the rights of people with disabilities and the country signed onto the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007.
Around 35,000 people in Belize have a disability. There are efforts to raise awareness about people with disabilities in Belize and counter social stigma. Several non-governmental organizations, including Special Olympics, help increase awareness and the government sponsors an annual Disability Week. Services for people with disabilities is limited and most areas of the country have limited accessibility.
Disability in Kenya "results from the interaction between individuals with a health condition with personal and environmental factors including negative attitudes, inaccessible transport and public buildings, and limited social support. A person's environment has a huge effect on the experience and extent of disability." Having a disability can limit a citizen's access to basic resources, basic human rights, and social, political and economic participation in Kenyan society. There are three forms of limitation of access linked to disability: impairment, disability, and handicap. An impairment is "the loss or abnormality of psychological, physiological or anatomical structure or function." A disability results from an impairment as "the restriction or lack of ability to perform an activity in the manner considered normal for a human being", and the requirement for accommodation. Finally, a handicap "results from a disability, and limits or prevents the fulfilment of a role that is normal for that individual."