CHAPTER 7: Defining The Disabled Person: An Analysis of the Continental Plan of Action for the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities

In 2002, the Organization of African Unity members adopted the Continental Plan of Action for the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities. The objectives of the Continental Plan of Action (CPA) were to promote the inclusion of persons with disabilities into mainstream society. The key issue of concern is how economic development appears to be defined by the policymakers and what affect that has on the definition of the disabled body. Examining the wording of the policy provides some insights into how the disabled body is defined, how persons with disabilities are identified, and what the expectations are for the participation of persons with disabilities in the state’s economic, political, and educational goals. There remains, however, the question of what is to occur to bodies that are abled enough to be excluded from the reforms, and yet disabled enough to not be full participants of society. Ultimately, does the policy empower persons with disabilities?