Abstract
Disability research in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa is developing rapidly, and this is something to be celebrated. This article reviews some contemporary developments and suggests that there are five central, and interrelated, challenges for the field. These challenges – experience, expertise, enumeration, evidence, and expectations – go to the heart of thinking about disability research in sub-Saharan Africa. An optimistic but appropriately critical approach to addressing these issues is suggested.
Highlights
There is good reason to feel both proud and optimistic about disability-related research in subSaharan Africa
AfriNead has hosted a number of conferences and meetings attended by a range of researchers, scholars, and disability activists from Africa and further afield, with a special issue of the prestigious journal Disability and Rehabilitation devoted to AfriNead work (Mji et al 2009, 2011)
The Southern Africa Federation on Disability (SAFOD) established and ran a research programme which had its challenges, but which produced research – some of which has been reported in the latter journal – and built research capacity amongst disability activists (Swartz 2009; 2013)
Summary
There is good reason to feel both proud and optimistic about disability-related research in subSaharan Africa. The success and international visibility of the work many people are doing to develop disability research in our region was brought home to me recently when I was invited to give a talk at a prominent university in the USA, well known for its work on disability issues.
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