groupes en action

Linked with our presentation of Dina Abdel Wahab – Egypt.

Linked also with our presentation of ashoka.

The Baby Academy is a chain of preschools for children three months to five years old. The school’s child-centered philosophy is based on love, learning and play and its curriculum is tailored to children’s developmental needs and designed to inspire children to achieve their potential.

Today the business is thriving with a remarkable 20 percent of its preschoolers children with special needs. Abdel Wahab recently opened a new branch in Cairo and plans to open two more schools in the next two years. Eventually she’d like to franchise the concept.

According to a United Nations report, less than four percent of Arab children have access to preschool education. The mission of The Baby Academy is to become a leader in early childhood education throughout Egypt and the Middle East.

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Linked with Dina Abdel Wahab – Egypt, with the Baby Academy, with Hasanain Juaini – Indonesia, and with Paul Rice – USA.

In Egyptian society, as in many societies, brain and genetic disorders are not well understood by the public. People who have, for example, autism or a severe learning disability are shunned, pushed to society’s margins, and written off as burdensome to families and society. Faulty public perception, shaped by ignorance and misunderstanding, is the condemning factor that underlies all others.

Dina, the mother of a five-year-old with Down’s syndrome, sees that to change attitudes and pave the way for societal reform, children are the place to start. In fact, the early preschool years offer an especially promising opportunity to realize important advances in societal integration by setting a different expectation of normalcy early on.

This insight has led to the first of what Dina hopes will be a regional network of preschools that prioritize the integration of children with special needs and children without them.

Traditionally, Egyptian children with special needs have not been well-accepted or provided for in mainstream culture. Already crowded public schools won’t accept children with disabilities and private schools will admit only the brightest students, leaving no place for children with a number of common disabilities. (Red more on pbs.org).

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Linked with our presentation Kafil Ahmed – Bangladesh.

Oxfam is an international organisation, helping poor people in many different corners of the world. Wherever we work, we always try to employ local people to help us, and we fund local organisations which are working to fight poverty. The use of this local knowledge and skills means that the work is done by the people who know most about the local communities and the problems facing them. (Read more on Oxfam).

Kafil Ahmed in his boat visiting local groups

The clean water-project for Bangladesh is realised with Oxfam’s help: Fill a bucket with ditchwater, pour the contents into the membrane.water4life filter, pump for a couple of minutes and out of the tap will come clean, safe drinking water. The invention is the work of DSM employees and is intended to provide Bangladesh with a safe water supply.

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Linked to our presentation of Delphine NANA MEKOUNTE – Cameroun, of February 4, 2006.

Also linked to our presentation of SUMMARY REPORT OF THE YAOUNDE COLLOQUIUM of February 4, 2006.

The African Civil Society for the Information Society (ACSIS) makes The Africa Region Report to CS Bureau:

The African civil society contribution to the WSIS process dates back to before the official launching of the WSIS.

In 2000, during the Bamako meeting titled “The passerelles du developpement” African civil society started its mobilization process to be ready in number for the WSIS process. This explains why, in May 2002, again in Bamako, during the first regional meeting dedicated to WSIS, African civil society was present in large numbers.

A major achievement in the Bamako meeting was the setting up of an inclusive African coordinating body dedicated to mobilization, sensitizing and awareness arising amongst African stakeholders. This body, called the African Group, innovated in many ways.

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Linked to our presentation again op-icescr of February 3, 2006.

Also linked to our presentation Magdalena Sepúlveda – Chile & Colombia of February 3, 2006.

The Association for Women’s Rights in Development AWID, an international membership organization connecting, informing and mobilizing thousands of people and organizations committed to achieving womens rights.

What are the specific obligations of states to ensure non-discrimination under the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights? A Discussion: The Nature of Obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, by Magdalena Sepúlveda, 2003 (See ou text on again op-icescr of February 3, 2006). By Renu Mandhane.

The goal is to cause policy, institutional and individual change that will improve the lives of women and girls everywhere. We do this by facilitating ongoing debates on fundamental and provocative issues as well as by building the individual and organizational capacities of those working for women’s empowerment and social justice.

Plenary reports of Forum in Thailand, Oct. 27-30, 2005.

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