Central African women's handicapped groups form federation

National advocacy groups for the rights of handicapped women and children throughout the central Africa region have formed a federation that will be based in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (ROC). The announcement came at the conclusion of a four-day seminar held last week Brazzaville, which comprised the participation of 61 delegates from Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and ROC. "The federation has a mandate to fight for increased access to education for handicapped children and living conditions for handicapped women, who we really want to feel involved in this battle," Raymonde Ankoli-Bouta, president of the Associations des femmes handicapees d'Afrique Centrale (FEAFHAC), told IRIN. A number of recommendations were made upon conclusion of the seminar, including each country's elaboration of laws that take under consideration the special needs of handicapped persons in general and handicapped women and children in particular; creation of government bodies specifically responsible for monitoring, promoting and safeguarding the rights of handicapped persons; and improvement of handicapped persons' access to education, employment, medical care and information - including that related to HIV/AIDS prevention. Recalling that 2000-2009 has been declared the African Decade for Handicapped Persons, FEAFHAC called upon the United Nations and other international institutions to provide financial, technical and material support of their efforts. The seminar was organised by the central African branch of the Institut Africain de Readaptation, with the financial support of the ROC government.