Nigeria ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works by People Who are Blind, Visually Impaired, or Otherwise Print Disabled (Marrakesh Treaty) in October 2017. The Treaty creates the enabling legal and policy environment for the production, distribution and cross-border exchange of accessible format copies of printed materials for use by people with print disabilities, without copyright restrictions.
While there are no definitive statistics on the portion of the population that is visually impaired or has a print disability; it is conservatively estimated that Nigeria has between 2 and 4 million people with various degrees of visual impairments. At least 500,000 are estimated to be students.
In March 2020, in response to the outbreak of Coronavirus in the country, the Federal Government ordered a closure of all educational institutions. In a bid to ensure that learning would continue, online learning was introduced by educators. Unfortunately, this alternative form of learning has proved to be inaccessible and unavailable for learners with print disabilities, particularly those with visual impairment. The COVID 19 experience further brought to fore the already known lack of general reading materials in accessible formats for people of this category which has precipitated book famine in Nigeria.
The Nigeria Association of the Blind (NAB) in collaboration with the Nigerian Copyright Commission is organizing a Virtual Seminar (Webinar) to, among others, engage stakeholders in the Education, publishing and allied industry in a dialogue aimed at stimulating inclusive publishing for people with print disabilities in the country, as well as provide participants with a basic understanding of the Marrakesh Treaty and its role in the education of people with visual impairment, particularly towards mitigating the impact of COViD-19 in the education sector.
Other objectives of the Webinar include;
To highlight the challenges people with print disabilities in Nigeria face as a result of the Book Famine in the country.
To share information on current processes to domesticate the Marrakesh Treaty in Nigeria; and
To offer participants the opportunity to interact with national and international agencies working towards the promotion of accessible publishing.
The webinar is open to all and any person or institution, public, private or corporate, that has an interest in the promotion of accessible reading for people with print disabilities. These include educational institutions at all levels; Federal and State departments; publishers, libraries and other actors in the book distribution chain; human rights institutions; bilateral and development agencies, non-profit organisations as well as disabled people’s organisations.
Date: Wednesday 28th October 2020.
Time: 15.00 WAT
Keynote Speaker,Mr. John Asein – Director General, Nigerian Copyright Commission.
Panelists:Dr Fred Shoeder – President, World Blind Union.
Hugoo Setzer – President, International Publishers Association
Brad Turner – Vice President (Global Literacy), Benetech Richard Orme – CEO, DAISY Consortium
Danlami Basharu – Chairperson, UNCRPD Committee
Moderator: Olakunle Kasumu – Producer and Presenter, Channels Book Club.
Conveners: Nigerian Copyright Commission (NCC), Nigeria Association of The Blind (NAB), International Council For The Education of People With Visual Impairment (ICEVI).
Cick on this link to register for the Webinarhttps://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_YdeJIE-6RPebN9wE_yGYzA
For advert enquiries call 0813 776 2516.
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