By IDA

 - October 14, 2022

A five-day workshop to validate the curriculum of the Bridge CRPD-SDGs Training of Trainers (ToT) opened in Nairobi on 12 October 2022. This is being organized by the African Disability Forum (ADF), United Disabled Persons of Kenya (UDPK), the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC).

Participants include IDA and IDDC members, and representatives from organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) from across Africa. The five-day workshop aims to review the Bridge ToT curriculum to ensure that it best addresses the training needs of the next generation of facilitators.

Participants at a Bridge event

Summary Day 1

The workshop started with opening remarks from IDA, ADF, a representative from the Kenyan disability movement and DPOD representing IDDC. Shitaye Astaves, speaking on behalf of ADF emphasized the critical role the Bridge training has played in enhancing the human rights advocacy led by African OPDs.

The deliberations began with participants recounting their own association with the Bridge training and how that has shaped their work to advance disability rights. While many shared how the Bridge training boosted their confidence and exposed them to the diversity within the disability movement, one participant described it as a training that gave them a “pocket full of ideas” to enhance their work back home.

An exciting part of the day was participants going through the last 12 years of the evolution of Bridge and the milestones that they themselves were part of. The timeline of trainings that preceded Bridge started from 2010 and over the years, it has evolved into a comprehensive training that is a model of how accessible and inclusive capacity building initiatives can be implemented.

Over the course of five days, participants will review in detail the curriculum of the Bridge ToT Module A and B to validate whether the current structure can be retained and what changes, if any, are to be incorporated.

Participants at a Bridge event

Day 2 of Bridge CRPD-SDGs Training of Trainers Validation Workshop

“Inclusion is not just putting people in the room” - Day 2 focusses on inclusive facilitation

After the recap of Day 1, Mark Mapemba, Vice President of Inclusion International presented the Listen Include Respect Guidelines that support the meaningful participation of persons with intellectual disabilities in activities and events. The presentation motivated the participants to look into their own experiences of being excluded and also how much of their work includes persons with intellectual disabilities.

Oganga Khadudu and Njunge Wanjiru, illustrators, Kenya
“Participants often find it easier to follow visual aids. When they find any concept or topic difficult to follow, they let us know and we put that into pictures.” Oganga Khadudu and Njunge Wanjiru, illustrators, Kenya.

Later the participants worked in groups to recall their own entry points into the Bridge CRPD-SDGs trajectory, the challenges they faced and the opportunities that opened up. Enhanced confidence and knowledge on the CRPD, understanding of cross-disability especially of underrepresented groups, learning teamwork and to be inclusive of all, were highlighted as positive impacts of the training.

Rosario Galarza who moderated the session on inclusive facilitation recounted her own learning on inclusive facilitation through Bridge training. She emphasized on the multiple benefits of adopting inclusive practices. For example, often illustrations are seen only as an accommodation for persons with intellectual disabilities. But they are equally helpful for indigenous participants for whom the language of the training may not be their first language.

Towards the end of the day, participants started their deep dive into reviewing the sessions of Module A. It began with an explanation of why the agenda for Module A interconnects substantive content with exposure to processes such as the functioning of the CRPD Committee. Participants then looked at individual sessions in groups to review their relevance, and if any other methodological or substantive element would need to be added or changed. The sessions on General Principles and the practical exercise were validated with some recommendations on how to make it more interactive and to draw from lived experience. This continued into the next day, with the remaining sessions of Module A to be reviewed and validated.

Additional resources:

1. Agenda 
2. List of participants in Word or PDF