Earlier this month we spent a week in Nigeria training people to facilitate self-advocacy groups.

The training was the first part of our project supporting Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria to establish a self-advocacy group for people with Down syndrome.

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What we did

Over a week we trained a group of people to become facilitators of self-advocacy groups. The group included family members and professionals working with people with Down syndrome. Two participants from the Aidrikings Foundation of Cameroon travelled over 40 hours by bus and boat to take part in the workshop.

The training covered all aspects of facilitating a self-advocacy group, including:

• principles of self-advocacy and empowering people with Down syndrome;
• key topics for self-advocates such as human rights and citizenship;
• how to support people with different communication needs;
• development of self-advocates' skills and knowledge;
• Supporting decision making.

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Why is this important?

There is a lot that needs to change for people with Down syndrome in Nigeria. Some babies are still left to die at birth due to superstitions and often people with Down syndrome struggle to access basic services. Most people with Down syndrome don't have a voice about the decisions that affect them.

Down Syndrome Foundation Nigeria and other organisations are working hard to advocate for the rights of people with Down syndrome. Now they can empower people with Down syndrome to become self-advocates and speak up for their human rights.

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Read more about this project here:

Nigeria self-advocacy

You can support more work like this here:

Global Support campaign