by Justin Mendy, Dakar, December 1997
THEME = SPORT
The third African Francophone
"Sports Meeting for the Handicapped" (JAPHAF)
will take place in Dakar, Senegal, 23-30 April 1998.
In addition to the actual competition, there's an opportunity
to assess the whole area of sports meetings for handicapped
people
The Dakar games are expected to bring together about 200 athletes, coming from ten countries, as against six countries represented at the first games in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso) in 1994, and seven at the second games in Cotonou (Benin) in 1996. The games cater for all forms of handicaps: physical, visual, mental, the deaf and dumb and those with hearing difficulties. There are various disciplines on the programme: wheel-chair races, weightlifting, African traditional wrestling, table-tennis, archery, handball, basket and volley-ball (a version specially designed for blind and poor-sighted people).
Mr Djibril Ouédraogo (Burkina Faso) is president of the international organising committee for the Dakar sports meeting. Whilst in Dakar, he said: "We want to ensure that others get a chance to participate in educational games specific to Africa". He maintains that, besides the sports aspect, those games provide a cultural and tourism angle, as well as helping towards regional integration.
There are 14-member nations entitled to participate in these specialised sports meetings. The organisation got off the ground, following the 1991 Barcelona Paralympic games, in which Burkina Faso was the only French-speaking African country taking part. (Editor's note: The Paralympic Games and the Olympic Games for able-bodied athletes, take place at two-weeks interval, in the same stadia). Participants in the African Sports Meeting for the Handicapped, come from Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d'Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Congo RDC, Gabon, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Central African Republic, Senegal and Togo.
Mr.Ouédraogo says: "These games are important. Why? Because: 1) The public are becoming increasingly aware that the handicapped can take part in sport. 2) There are special kinds of sports available for the handicapped, such as wheel-chair races, volley-ball for the handicapped). 3) Experience shows that while the handicapped can take part in other sports such as basketball, football and table-tennis, the rules need to be adapted to their special needs. Statistics issued by the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicate that 10% of the world population are "handicapped" in one way or another.
More widespread information has also led to setting up national sports federations for handicapped people (Handisports). Today, these exist in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Togo.
Recently, in Ouagadougou, a factory opened for the manufacture of wheelchairs for handicapped people, suitable for all participants in sports meetings for the handicapped. Mr.Ouédraogo said that necessary instructions for making these appliances will be offered to all Committee members, who will then be able to manufacture their own wheelchairs at home. This project is financed by the European Union (EU), with the initiative being taken by the French Non-Governmental Organisation "Handicap International".
Today, English-speaking African countries, south of the Sahara, are interested in sport for the handicapped, especially at an international level. Until now, these countries have been organising such meetings only at a national level. Participants in the Dakar Games will consider the request from Anglophone countries to join their association. If accepted, the statutes will need to be modified and indeed, the whole organisation will need a good re- think, especially as French-speakers from other parts of the world are involved as well - France, French-speaking areas of Belgium, the Conference of Youth and Sports Ministers of French-speaking countries.
A major item coming up for discussion during the Dakar meeting will be: "The Sports Meetings of The African Sports Federation for Handicapped People" (CASH). Today, these particular meetings are monopolised by North African countries, with only four countries participating, all from North Africa. Africa south of the Sahara is completely excluded.
As in all African sports federations, CASH is backed by the "Superior Council for Sport in Africa", (an Organisation of African Unity [OAU] department), as well as by the International Paralympic Committee (the international body which controls the Paralympics).
Grants allocated by these organisations for handicapped sports, only benefit the Maghreb countries. CASH sections in other regions get nothing. Truth to say, most of these exist only on paper. Such is the case of the so-called "Zone 3" (covering West Africa). This area was recently allocated to Mr.Ouédraogo, without him even being asked!
Obviously, matters need to be clarified during the Dakar meeting. Only then will there be a more just and rational organisation of sports meetings for the handicapped, and after all, they're the ones who should profit. If CASH will have none of it, then the only solution will be to meet with all concerned, and thrash the whole business out in a general assembly.
END
PeaceLink 1998 - Reproduction authorised, with usual acknowledgement