United in making our voices heard
Albinism awareness day this Saturday
Following the commemoration of International Albinism Awareness Day earlier this week, the Namibian support body, SINASRA, hosts a local event at the Disability Resource Centre in Okuryangava on Saturday at 08:00.Albinism is a non-contagious, genetically inherited condition that affects people regardless of race, ethnicity or gender. The condition is a worldwide issue where people with albinism (PWA) tend to stand out because of their skin colour and hair. Albinism potentially results in two major health conditions namely visual impairment and high vulnerability to skin damage from ultraviolet rays, including skin cancer.
Although people with albinism represent a small segment of the population globally, they are often affected by poverty, particularly in developing countries. Additionally, they face multiple forms of discrimination on the basis of their appearance and as a result they are often excluded from public policies in the key areas of health, employment and education.
Notwithstanding the different human rights situation of people with albinism worldwide, certain challenges are common throughout all regions due to misconceptions of the condition. Across the world, people with albinism suffer from discrimination, stigmatization, and social exclusion.
In some countries, particularly in Africa, the physical appearance of people with albinism has been the object of erroneous beliefs and myths influenced by superstition, witchcraft, or both. These myths have fostered marginalization, social exclusion, and physical attacks among others.
Related harmful practices include accusations of witchcraft, killing, rape, trafficking in persons, and trafficking in body parts amongst others. In this regard, there have been reports of attacks carried out in African countries such as Malawi, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa to mention a few.
Local incident
In the latest in Namibia, two men approached a person living with albinism asking him to sell them his hair.
It is against this background that on 18 December 2014, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution proclaiming, with effect from 2015, 13 June as International Albinism Awareness Day. This is mainly due to the fact that people with albinism are entitled to civil, political, economic, and social rights.
This year’s theme is “United in making our voice heard”, which was chosen to celebrate how groups of PWAs and individuals can increase the visibility of people living with the condition in all domains of life, and to encourage and celebrate unity among them.
In Namibia, the day will be celebrated under the umbrella of Support in Namibia for Albinism Sufferers Requiring Assistance (SINASRA). The aim is to foster a culture of socialising and information sharing within the albinism community and the general public, and importantly, to bring PWA together in order to create a sense of belonging and alleviate isolation because knowing others in the same situation is helpful.
The event is sponsored by Trau Bros Diamonds Namibia. For more info, contact Iyaloo Namundjembo at 081 399 8776 or [email protected]