As part of QNET’s commitment to empowering people to live their best lives, the organisation advocates for the inclusion of people with disabilities and regularly supports organisations that champion such causes.
In view of this, the African Cooperation of Business Honours recently honoured the tremendous efforts of one such organization – The ANOPA Project, with its prestigious Charity Organisation of the Year 2022 award.
ANOPA is a not-for-profit sports-based intervention that seeks to improve the inclusion and integration of vulnerable groups across Sub-Saharan Africa.
For the past three years, QNET, a global e-commerce-based direct selling company, through its social impact arm, RYTHM Foundation, has been involved in supporting one of ANOPA’s flagship projects dubbed: “Education Through Sports for Deaf and Blind Children”.
This, Biram Fall, Qnet’s Regional General Manager for Sub-Sahara Africa, emphasized is with a view to building a platform for children with disabilities to learn essential life skills and more through sports education.
This critical initiative empowers hearing and visually impaired children by equipping them with valuable life skills through inclusive, accessible, and quality sports-based programmes.
According to Fall, ANOPA works to increase school retention rates for these children and teach them social and soft skills through sports activities such as swimming and basketball. In addition, the organisation frequently implements awareness workshops to change social perceptions of people with disabilities.
Qnet’s Regional General Manager for Sub-Sahara Africa said: “QNET and our social impact arm, RYTHM Foundation, have the vision to create a better future for everyone through people empowerment. Building an inclusive society is the first step: the future must include people from all backgrounds and abilities. Accessing high-quality, disability-inclusive education for African youth and children can be difficult due to cultural, economic, and social barriers.
That’s why the work that the ANOPA Project is doing is very important in empowering these kids with the skills they need to harness their potential. Congratulations to the team at ANOPA for taking on this noble cause. We are thrilled to be a part of your journey.”
With support from QNET’s RYTHM Foundation-sponsored programme, ANOPA has successfully enrolled children across Africa with visual and hearing disabilities in specialist schools.
Their families have also been provided with schooling essentials, such as uniforms, educational materials, and learning accessories to ease their financial burden.
To date, ANOPA has helped over 500 children across Africa with visual and hearing disabilities realize their full potential by providing support and assistance to schools, creating a conducive learning environment, and removing financial barriers to education.
For people with disabilities, especially young people and children, having good social support systems and inclusive government policies are critical to ensuring they can live independent and fulfilling lives.
Unfortunately, that is not the reality for many disabled communities around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that over 80 per cent of those living with disabilities are from developing countries – Sub-Saharan Africa included.
The WHO’s Global Disability Action Plan highlights that adolescents and children with disabilities experience stigmatization, discrimination, and inequalities. These factors are further exacerbated in lower-income countries as disability and poverty reinforce and perpetuate one another.
