Policies aimed at promoting and addressing the rights of persons with disabilities are silent on vulnerable migrants with disabilities in South Africa. A research study conducted in 2020 by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) at the University of Witwatersrand found that data on disability and migration is not readily available. As a result, it is difficult to ascertain how many migrants with disability are in the country. The research titled "They are too quiet about migration": a scoping exercise exploring migration and disability in South Africa" also revealed that policies related to disability are silent on migrants with disability. As a result, migrants with disabilities often face exclusion in programmes. To address this, the IOM, in partnership with Outreach Foundation, are implementing the migration and disability project in Gauteng and Musina. The project, funded by the Irish government, seeks to break this silence by raising awareness about migrants with disabilities. It also aims to improve all persons with disabilities access to social protection. "At this stage, we are looking at both internal and external migrants with disabilities as well as other persons with disabilities, specifically in Johannesburg and Musina, says Robert Michel, Executive Director for the Outreach Foundation. "We need to assess their situation and what may be needed, and then we can go from there. This is currently a pilot project to see if there is indeed a need for an intervention, so the more persons with disabilities or their carers we can talk to, the better," Michel added. Michel further explained that Outreach Foundation had noticed that many migrants and people living with disabilities are excluded from social protection. This is true for many South Africans, whether documented or not. Therefore, there is a need to advocate for their inclusion. "If you don't know how to access the …
Stories of Hillbrow – More than a Single Story
Outreach Foundation and the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama (University of London) are delighted to announce their plans for our Youth Day Event: June 15, 2019, co-run event celebrating alternative stories to Hillbrow: Stories of Hillbrow – More than a Single Story; Shifting narratives of Hillbrow by placing young people and women at the centre of the storytelling. We extend a warm welcome to you and your family to attend our celebratory event showcasing work from our projects, run in partnership with the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, University of London. We invite you to come and engage with our performance-making and our digital stories, take part in a panel conversation dialogue, chaired by Mwenya B. Kabwe (a Johannesburg based, Zambian theatre maker, lecturer and mother), to consider alternative narratives of Hillbrow, and to share a meal with us at the close of the event. This year we have been working with practitioners from the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama exploring digital storytelling as a means of celebrating alternative narratives of living and being in Hillbrow. Entitled Extraordinary, Ordinary Women, we have explored the role can digital storytelling can play in exploring forgotten histories of women and communities. We have worked with Outreach Foundation members and their extended families and communities to create a series of short films and digital stories to share. We have continued our partnership with the Ward 21 Clinic at the Wits RHI Centre which began in 2018, with a building of a sharing of practice and an exploration of young people’s health rights in Hillbrow. This year, we are working with young people from St Edna’s Secondary School and Barnato Park High School, alongside emerging practitioners from Royal Central and in collaboration with students from the Market Theatre Laboratory to interrogate ideas about what it means to be a young person living in Hillbrow and how to enact your …