African Disability Alliance (ADA) 3721 views

ADA is a disability-led technical agency deriving its mandate from the African continental organisations of persons with disability

The ADA has matured into an essential technical resource for continental/ regional political/economic/social bodies and structures. A well-established organisation has emerged from the difficult formative phases with a clear vision and mission.  The organisation has managed to turn around its own operations and its ability to influence development and implementation of policies in Africa in a manner that has reduced fragmentation in the disability policy formulation, strategy development and programming processes.

ADA has successfully used international diplomacy / relations to solve complex problems faced by persons with disabilities. This approach has been welcomed as an effective strategy to cause commitment to provide resources and implementation of policies and strategies in a manner that benefits persons with disabilities. The organisation has implemented a broad range of demand-led programmes and projects that have placed disability at the centre of planning, implementation and evaluation strategies at both national and Africa continental level. This includes adding value to policy formulation and implementation processes within the African Union (AU) system, Regional Economic Committee (RECs) and African governments.

The ADA:

1. Works as an interlocking agency that provides policy-level expertise and examples of good practice to support disability policy formulation, programming and implementation processes.
2. Catalyses the disability programming process by developing tools to achieve objectives of policy and legislation related to disability.
3. Brings together different governments, political structures, networks and organisations thus building consensus and cohesion on complex decision-making processes.
4. Is a reservoir of information and best practices related to all aspects of disability work (including research/ gathering of evidence, formulation of sectoral disability objectives/ output/ indicators, and strengthening of advocacy/ lobbying ability of DPOs and other civil society organisations).
5. ADA is presently the Fiscal Agent of the global Beyond 2015 Campaign (B2015). Beyond 2015 and ADA are partners in “… a global civil society campaign, pushing for a strong and legitimate successor framework to the Millennium Development Goals”. The role of ADA as fiscal agent is to undertake the financial management of Beyond 2015 (contracting with donors, sub contracts, sub grants, employing certain members of the International Secretariat, contracting with partners and consultants as relevant, ensuring the audit) and communication in a neutral way.