Interpeace and its partner organizations firmly believe that no group or community should be overlooked in the process of building peace and social reconciliation. That is why our local partner in Guinea-Bissau, Voz di Paz, has developed partnerships with associations of people with physical disabilities.

At the invitation of one of these associations, AGUIPADE, Voz di Paz participated in the commemorations held for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, under the motto: ‘Protecting dignity, freedom and equality’. As part of the commemorations, Voz di Paz and AGUIPAD co-organized a workshop to raise awareness about the rights of people with disabilities.

Promoting social inclusion

As Fafali Koudawo, Director of Voz di Paz explains: “Reaching out to all groups is one of the core principles of our approach. This is also a great opportunity to involve people with disabilities in the peacebuilding process.” In addition to AGUIPAD, Voz di Paz also supports the activities of UNDEMOV, a national association of people with physical disabilities due to war. The newly appointed President of AGUIPADE expressed his appreciation of Voz di Paz’s support to the cause of people with disabilities and praised our local partner’s work.

Following the coup d’état of 12 April 2012 and the on-going political transition, Voz di Paz is seeking to engage people from all sectors of society in a broadened and inclusive dialogue process aimed at defining a unified vision for the future of the country. The purpose of this process is to push for the implementation of a number of in-depth political and security reforms ahead of the next elections, to ensure that the country does not fall back into the cycle of instability which has been the norm since the end of the civil war in 1999.