Mr. President, Distinguished Members of FATO, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I accept your invitation to write the editorial for this edition of FATOInfo.

This invitation honors me. It also gives me the opportunity to solemnly reaffirm our esteem for FATO. This large pan-African network, with the support of its members and grassroots organizations, has contributed to the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa.

Through its relationships and interactions with technical equipment suppliers around the world, FATO provides many people with physical disabilities on the African continent with access to tools that help them stand up and achieve social integration.

Relying on local allies such as the Koudougou Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled in Burkina Faso, FATO allows us to say, without cynicism, to people with physical disabilities: ‘YIK-N-KENE’ (STAND UP AND WALK). It is gratifying to note that FATO does not simply act as an interface for technical solutions to the problems faced by people with disabilities—a role that is, moreover, very important.

Indeed, what is also worth noting and particularly worthy of our attention is the holistic approach of this federation, whose commitment is based on values ​​that defy time and space.
By saying “our,” I allow myself to speak for MISEREOR, the Episcopal Society of the Catholic Church in Germany, which is proud to have FATO as a partner.