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Digital Press Briefing with Sara Minkara, U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, on Disability Rights in Africa [1]

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Date: 2024-05 

MODERATOR: Good afternoon to everyone from the U.S. Department of State’s Africa Regional Media Hub. I welcome our participants logging in from across the continent and thank all of you for joining this discussion on the topic of Disability Rights in Africa. Today, we are very pleased to be joined by the U.S. Department of State’s Special Advisor on International Disability Rights, Sara Minkara.

We will begin today’s briefing with opening remarks from Special Advisor Sara Minkara and then turn to your questions. We will try to get to as many of your questions as we can during the briefing.

And with that, I will turn it over to Special Advisor Sara Minkara for her opening remarks.

MS MINKARA: Awesome. Thank you, Johann, and so great to be with you all here today. Good afternoon to you and good morning to us on the East Coast side here. My name is Sara Minkara and I’m the U.S. Special Advisor on International Disability Rights. Just a little bit of background in terms of what we do and what we were doing in Kenya last week.

So I lead the U.S. Government foreign policy on disability all over the world with my team, so we cover the globe, and we approach disability and inclusion not just from a human rights lens but also from an economic lens, from a value-based lens. A lot of times, if we take a step back and we think about disability narrative in our society, we’re still seeing society – society still sees us – and I say “us” because I am a person with a disability – still sees us from a point of we need to be taken care of and protected. I want us to shift to a point where we are seen as users of the systems, we are seen as contributors to the systems of society at large, we are seen as entrepreneurs, employers, employees, we are seen as people that will need to go online and be able to access online shopping, for instance, and the e-commerce platforms. We need to be able to access the AI that’s coming out and becoming more part of our economies and systems at large. We need to be able to access physical technological infrastructure of communication and information accessibility.

So we need to shift from a point of, oh, let’s take care of the disability community, but another narrative of let’s break down barriers, let’s make society accessible at large so people with disabilities can contribute. And that’s what brought us to Kenya.

Last week there was the AmCham Business Summit, which is held every year, in Nairobi, and it brought together corporate leaders, government leaders from across Africa – across East Africa, across Kenya. You had companies like Coca-Cola and Google and Microsoft, et cetera, but you also had local Kenyan and East African companies present – East Africa companies present there, et cetera. And it was a space for us to talk about the importance of the AI and digitization and moving towards an Africa that’s (inaudible) building on to innovation and transforming our economies, et cetera. And our point of being there was how do we ensure the disability lens is at the table; how do we ensure persons with disabilities are – their voices are heard; and how do we ensure that we are tapping into the 16 percent of the world’s population which is the disability community.

We also had the chance to do some bilateral work in Kenya, working with the civil society community. We met with some government individuals and focused on a few Kenya-specific disability-related initiatives and bills and amendments, acts, et cetera. This is our third time to Africa in my current role. We’ve been to Nigeria and Mozambique, and we were happy to be back on the continent last week.

So I’ll stop here, but ultimately, our goal is we want all sectors, including the media sector, to be talking about disability innovation in tech, and inclusion, and that we’re talking about economic transformation and within our societies. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much, Special Advisor Minkara. So we’ll now begin the question-and-answer portion of today’s briefing.

So for our first question – and this is, I think, particularly interesting as we are right now on a Zoom call – the question is: “What role does assistive technology play in advancing disability rights?” So, Special Advisor Minkara?

MS MINKARA: It’s a really good question. And I look at this question in two layers. One is, yes, assistive technology is super important, and it’s helped break down barriers for us as persons with disabilities. For example, I use a screen-reader software called JAWS that allows me to use my computer and access my computer, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, which is really important because the more we move towards technology, the more that we want to make sure that those are accessible to all. But on the other hand, the caveat is, if websites are not built accessible and websites are not built in a way to be able to work with screen-reader software, my screen-reader software is useless.

So one layer to this question is, how do we ensure that anything that we build is accessible and how do we bake in also within our mainstream technology ways that allow for more opportunities to navigate. What I mean by that – my phone right now, any iPhones, right, and this is also for Android and other phones, right – my iPhone, I can easily open up, go into general settings, accessibility, and turn on voiceover, and that will allow me to be able to access my phone like anyone else; it’s just through touch screen. I touch and it reads back out. I’m not buying a special phone. I’m not buying extra things. It’s baked in. And that’s what’s really important, is how do we create technology out there that’s accessible for everyone. Right now I go to a lot of new hotel rooms and there’s these touch screens that are not accessible to me, right? So technology is really important, innovation is really important, but let’s make sure accessibility is baked in.

MODERATOR: All right, thank you very much. So for our second question, it comes to us from Kemi Osukoya from Africa Bazaar Magazine, and the question is this: “As we have seen in the U.S., people with disabilities still face many challenges in the workplace and society. How will the U.S. use its experience to work with local partners in Africa to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities in Africa while also respecting African cultures?”

MS MINKARA: That’s a really good question. As you mentioned – and it’s a really good point – we’ve been in a 50-year journey of disability inclusion. There’s a lot of progress but there’s a lot more work to be done. There’s a lot of learned lessons and there’s a lot of great practices, but there’s a lot of things that we can also learn from all over the world. And I think when we talk about disability inclusion, we need to ensure that we localize it to the local culture and context and that we ensure that everything is designed through the community. But one thing that is common anywhere in the world, in that whether – depending – doesn’t matter where, what culture, what country, what community. The one common thing is we as people with disabilities, we have the desire to be seen, to be heard, and to be valued. We don’t want society to look at us and say, you need to be fixed; we want to break down – we want society to break down barriers and accessibility barriers for us so we can access the systems in society at large. That’s anywhere in the world.

So when we’re designing programs, including inclusive employment, I want us to look at the system and say, how can we break down barriers? How can we make sure this space is more inclusive and accessible? It’s not just compliance; it’s actually breaking down barriers. And how do we ensure that every single person’s potential is being addressed, but also, how do we really – in each community there are certain difficult conversations we might need to have, assumptions towards disability – some assumptions in societies that were too costly, were a burden, were different, were incapable. We need to address those narratives as we are building solutions in the practices and the policies.

MODERATOR: All right, thank you very much. Our third question is: “What are the challenges you have faced in promoting disability rights in your institutional priorities?”

MS MINKARA: Really good question. I think disability – I call it a double-edged sword. On one hand, wherever I travel, no one will say, oh, it’s not important, right? It is an issue that people do want to work on or would like to have a conversation on, but in a lot of spaces it’s not prioritized. In a lot of spaces, we’re still seen as a point of charity needed to be taken care of. So a big part of our challenge has been actually disrupting the narrative. A big part of the challenge has actually been able to showcase countries and societies and policy makers that disability inclusion is, like, actually a benefit to them, benefit to their work. And I think that’s something that we want to continue on. It helps everyone. It helps our GDP. It helps innovation. And when you make a system accessible for persons with disabilities, it will benefit everyone.

So that’s the narrative that we need to continue working on. And journalists like you guys can help kind of promote that narrative.

MODERATOR: Okay, thank you. Our next question is an excellent segue to what you were just discussing. The question is: “What do you tell people who ask, why should I care about disability rights?”

MS MINKARA: Ah. Well, a couple of reasons. One, why should we care? The disability community is a big part of our – is a big percentage, 16 percent, of our populations; globally we are 1.3 billion. When we exclude persons with disabilities from the economy it impacts our GPD up to 7 percent. I think it’s more than that, but let’s say that. When we don’t bring in the disability perspective, we actually lose out on amazing ways of making society accessible for everyone. So, for instance, people don’t realize that text messaging came out of the need of the deaf community. Ramps came out of the need of the – you know the curb cuts for the sidewalks, came out of the need of the wheelchair users, but everyone benefits from them, right?

So that’s on one layer, is it is a value to our society and economy at large. But the second layer is, as we age, a lot of us become – gain more disability. Anyone can be part of the disability community at any point in time. Disability touches all of us at some point. So it is an important element, important identity in our society.

MODERATOR: All right, definitely a lot of food for thought there. You mentioned in your previous answer the economic impacts of caring about disability rights, so that feeds into the next question, which is: “What can companies do to promote greater economic participation for persons with disabilities?”

MS MINKARA: So I look at this in a few different layers. One is, if we’re talking about employment, let’s actually journey map and see the different barriers of persons with disabilities when it comes to employment, reaching out the application process, reaching out with the disability community, making sure the application process is accessible when a person is employed, then how do we make sure we break down barriers within the system so they can actually raise – be able to go up in leadership, right? There’s many different layers of barriers. Let’s break that down. I want corporations to break that down. I’m not a fan of quotas because quotas are technical solutions to an adaptive problem. When we’re talking about investment, a lot of companies might come in into a community, a society and invest, right? And right now there’s a lot of talk around sustainable investment. Well, let’s make sure it’s sustainable and accessible investment. Let’s make sure accessibility is baked into any investment that companies do.

Third layer is when sometimes you have a lot of corporations support – for instance Visa, Mastercard, all these different companies are supporting women-owned businesses. How do we also make sure there’s a lot of support towards disabled-owned businesses, right? So there’s many layers to this, but ultimately the first step is any company, bring the disability community to your kind of ecosystem. Make sure you’re listening to the needs of the disability community and make sure that you’re working with them as you’re integrating disability into your own efforts.

MODERATOR: Thank you. You just mentioned that there are barriers to economic participation, so the next question is, in fact: “What are some of the barriers to economic participation for persons with disabilities?”

MS MINKARA: So barriers – there’s many layers to barriers, right? People think it’s just infrastructure. Infrastructure is one. You have infrastructure – physical, right? You have barriers in your educational system. You have barriers within the technology that’s being developed. Barriers within information that’s – and how communication is being brought forward, right? So there’s many layers of barriers within – as we move forward in society. That will then translate into economic barriers. If my recollection is correct, WHO said – and I would definitely just double-check on this – WHO said that only 50 percent of persons with disabilities have access to the internet, right? That in itself is a barrier. There are statistics out there that says – I forgot the number fully, but 90-something percent of all websites out there in the world are not accessible, right? So if you’re having all these different layers of barriers, then you’re not going to be able to full economic – participate in the economy. So we need to make sure that there’s – address those barriers but we also need to address the narrative barriers.

MODERATOR: All right, fantastic. Thank you. I think we only have time for a couple more questions. But I do have a very interesting question here: “How can assistive technology play a role in inclusive education initiatives?” So assistive technology in education. Interesting.

MS MINKARA: I think assistive technology in education is really important. I mean, I benefitted from that. Again – but again, we need to make sure there’s assistive technology that’s being brought forward, but then also as we move forward more into digital education, any platforms that we’re designing for education, any softwares, are made accessible for everyone. And I think it’s two layers, right; assistive technology, but I think it’s also the tools that are being developed, the courses, the online courses, everything, there’s an accessibility lens to it.

Also the third layer is we need to ensure that all of our teachers are trained on inclusive education, right? So there’s many layers it. Yes, assistive technology is one important tool and variable towards inclusive education.

MODERATOR: All right. Well, we all are, in fact, here from the U.S. Government, so this next question is very apt: “What has the U.S. Government been doing to drive development and access to assistive technology for persons with disabilities?”

MS MINKARA: A good question. So USAID is actually one of the founding members of AtScale, which is an entity that focuses on investing in assistive technology. I definitely would look them up. But in a lot of our work across USAID, across our embassies’ efforts, there’s been a lot of work on disability inclusion. So I think in – and depending on the mission and the embassy, sometimes they focus more on inclusive education, et cetera, et cetera. I would definitely look into, for instance, in Kenya, something that we – I was able to connect with and learn from is Sightsavers and the amazing work that they’re doing with farmers with disabilities in the supply chain, and also working with companies on getting retail distributors to be woman with a disability.

So I think there is a lot of great work that’s being done in different missions and embassies.

MODERATOR: Okay. Well, I think we have time for one more question, then, before we wrap up. And looking to the future – it’s a great question for looking for the – to the future: “What are the benefits and risks presented by artificial intelligence for persons with disabilities?”

MS MINKARA: Ooh. I like that question. So one, if AI is – first, AI is being developed from limited data, and a lot of times biased data on disabilities. So that is something for us to be very aware of, and careful, and really address. Number two, if AI is being developed and it’s not – accessibility is not baked in, it can further marginalize us. But on the other hand, if AI does bring in the right data and does bring in accessibility, it can be an amazing tool for us as a disability community to be able to further integrate into society.

One example that I love to say is the chief accessibility officer for Microsoft was talking about during COVID one – one of their employees was deaf, because everyone went virtual and they started using Teams, the deaf employee is the one who created captioning, the automatic captioning for Teams, because that’s how he was going to be able to access what people were saying. Who benefits from that? Everyone that uses Teams, right? So again, when you bake in accessibility to the AI, it will benefit everyone as well.

MODERATOR: All right. Special Advisor Minkara, you’ve been very generous with your time. If you don’t mind, there has been one additional question which came in online. And if you do have another couple of minutes, I would very much like to be able to take this question.

MS MINKARA: Okay, definitely.

MODERATOR: If you permit.

MS MINKARA: Yes.

MODERATOR: So the question is how do you – it comes from Francisco Govima of Govima Media. The question is: “How do you see the role of the United States in developing and promoting disability and inclusive entrepreneurship, particularly in international settings, such as the recent AmCham Business Summit in Nairobi?”

MS MINKARA: That’s a really good question. So I see it in a few different ways. One of our great networks in a lot of countries is the AmCham community, the American businesses, and how we ensure that – what our American businesses are in supporting different entrepreneurs and marginalized population. How do we ensure that they are also supporting persons with disabilities, disability-owned entrepreneurs, ensuring that any of their services, any of their efforts are inclusive of disability and accessibility.

So whether it’s through the AmCham, whether through the Commercial Business Affairs Office in the State Department, whether through USAID – and, like I mentioned, the Sightsavers programs – we need to ensure that people with disabilities are brought to the table through an economic lens, whether it’s entrepreneurs, employees, employers, and also breaking down barriers within trade and investment as well.

So really good question, and our embassies and our colleagues are one of our amazing players on the ground to help implement some of this work.

MODERATOR: All right. Thank you so much. Well, we have really covered a lot of ground today, and unfortunately, our time is limited, and we’re just about at the end of the session here. But Special Advisor Minkara, I wanted to ask whether you have any final words to share before we wrap up.

MS MINKARA: Just saying thank you to all who participated and for the questions. And please, please, please be part of the narrative change that we need to see when it comes to disability inclusion. Please keep reporting on disability, and I just want to thank everyone.

MODERATOR: All right. Well, that was fantastic. Thank you so much. So that does conclude today’s briefing. I want to thank the U.S. Department of State’s Special Advisor on International Disability Rights Sara Minkara for joining us today, and also thanks to all the journalists who participated and submitted questions.

A recording and a transcript of today’s briefing will be distributed to participating journalists as soon as we can produce them, and then we’ll be sending them out wider following that. If you have any questions about today’s briefing, you may contact the Africa Regional Media Hub at AfMediaHub@state.gov. I would also like to invite everyone to follow us on Twitter, or X, at our handle @AfricaMediaHub. Thank you very much to everyone, and have a great day.

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[1] Url: https://www.state.gov/digital-press-briefing-with-sara-minkara-u-s-special-advisor-on-international-disability-rights-on-disability-rights-in-africa/

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