Africa:
„The Future is Ours"

Dr. Nabil Salem, IPC Vice-President Marketing and Communication & President of ASCOD, held a speech at the Regional Conference on Sports for People with a Disability, which took place in Luanda, Angola on 28 July 2001. The Paralympian publishes excerpts from this speech:

"Our aim at this conference is to discuss, how we can improve and promote sports for people with a disability in the African region and continent.

It is a well known fact that sport is important for able-bodied people, but it is fundamental for people with a disability. Sport for them is a must, as it is the one and main pillar taking them out of the world of disability. It is the way out of the dark enclosure to light, from disability to ability. Sport is used as a mode of treatment in the process of full rehabilitation in form of therapeutic and remedial exercise in the physical medical program. We use sport as a recreational exercise for the final steps outside the medical services, and we use it as sports program and as an activity to keep the patients away from any possible rebound back to the world of disability, and finally sport is used as competitive sport allowing people with a disability to feel elite and a star of the community. Sport is a way to recover and gain character and personality, a way to regain a way back to life, and integration into society becoming a successful, independent and productive citizen.

We need to help people with a disability to get to know what their abilities are, instead of having them imprisoned in their disability. Our motto here is that sport is a right and a privilege for every person with a disability, whatever disability is, even in Africa with all the problems our continent is facing and suffering from, a situation no other continent is facing these days, with an increasing number of people with a disability; but this is us Africans and this is our continent.

We are the second largest continent on earth with about 1/5 of the earth's land. We are about 900 million Africans, and it is said that at least ten to 15 per cent of Africans are disabled, whatever cause or type of disability this is: malnutrition, civil and national wars, traumatic causes of all types, disabling diseases, and other health hazards. We were and still are the most abused continent, which is the main cause for most of our disabled people, in some way or another.

Now, on this background, how about our people with a disability? We can say that the majority of people is suffering from lack of numerous important things in life: healthy food, medical treatment, good working conditions, a good financial situation and the essentials of life which are supposed to be offered, like sports, for example.

And here, we have to state that we need to promote sports for athletes with a disability and ask for governmental and non-governmental support for this very important goal. We need to inform the governments that it is a good and successful investment, we need to tell them and the other non-governmental organizations working in this area, that it is good investment, and that it is their duty and obligation to their people. A lot of people with a disability have helped many countries outside Africa to be rich and develop to what they are now.

The investment is the successful transference of people with a disability from dependent, needing and demanding citizens to independent, productive and successful ones.

At this point, I would like to mention some successful examples of countries on our continent, how organized they are, how they are an addition to their society and community and how they sometimes are the cause for pride and courage when winning medals at Paralympic Games. This is thanks to sport in all forms -from remedial to recreational and elite sport. Countries that have to be mentioned in this context are: South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Kenya and others.

Our first organizational structure on the African continent was initiated by Algeria when they invited the African countries to join in an inaugurating general assembly in Algeria in order to establish the African Sports Confederation for Disabled in Africa way back in 1988. Ten countries -mainly from North, West and Central Africa- accepted the invitation and attended the assembly to set up this sporting organization with it headquarters in Algeria at the time. ASCOD or CASHI was established with a full constitution, the main task being the responsibility for all types of disability: locomotor, sensory and mental.

At the beginning ASCOD faced many problems, which were mainly financial but also concerning transportation and communication, which also were the main reasons for its slow growth and development. The headquarters was later transferred to Cairo, Egypt, from which time onwards more and more countries joined and financial and other problems could be solved. Transportation and communication problems still remain, together with other problems that most sports organization for the disabled are facing, namely that of marketing and sponsorship.

ASCOD joined the Supreme Council of Sports in Africa and was recognized as the African sports organization for people with a disability, registered as a non-governmental organization.

Until the 5th All Africa Games in Cairo, African Championships existed only on a small scale. Then, with the 7th All African Games held in South Africa, a major step forward was taken as it was agreed that seven Swimming and twelve Athletic events for athletes with a disability would be included
as demonstration events in the program for able-bodied athletes. For the 8th All Africa Games, it has already been decided that they will be included in the Games as full medal events with table tennis and powerlifting in addition to
those two sports.

Our activities also cover the African Championships including Volleyball, Wheelchair Basketball, Goalball, Football for the Deaf, Powerlifting, Athletics and Swimming.

Our general assembly now comprises 45 countries affiliated to the IPC and ASCOD. Africa is also represented on the IPC's Executive Committee. ASCOD's Executive Committee, as in the able-bodied African counterpart, consists of a President, three Vice-Presidents, Secretary General, Treasurer, seven members each representing one of the seven African zones, and a member representing Africa at the IPC.

We already have established a website under www.ascod.com.

We are now in the process of helping all our African paralympic committees to develop and be better organized, as we now have a group of technical instructors and classifiers some of which are internationally recognized. We are planning to invest all the money coming in from membership fees, participation and capitation fees, solidarity as well as other money for administrative purposes in the region given by the IPC, in this development program for developing nations on this continent.

To come to a conclusion, I would like to say that I believe that the future is ours. I have to demand that all African governments and sporting authorities be the main and biggest sponsors for athletes with a disability. I know and am sure that this is an investment, which they will never regret. I would also like to ask all international organizations to work with us and support and promote this African movement thus paying back some of their dept they owe Africa."

Dr. Nabil Salem
IPC Vice President Marketing and Communication