1984: THE SEEDLING SOWN
Ismael Konaté AFUB founding member
1976, Ismael Konaté , a civil servant who lost his sight due to Glaucoma in 1964 and the founding father of the Mali Union of the Blind (UMAV), is elected president of the African Regional Committee for the Social Advancement of the Blind.
The Committee was not the sole regional organisation in Africa. Ismail Konaté was aware of the potentially missed opportunities amid such a divisive and divided environment. He then took it upon himself to champion the creation of one single umbrella organisation of the blind in Africa. And the seedlings began to be sown.
1980, English-speaking organisations of the blind gather in Stockholm under the auspices of the Swedish Association of the Visually Impaired (SRF) and adopt a resolution to this end. One year later, SRF sponsors a meeting of the French-speaking organisations in Thies, Senegal.
Grassroots support granted, Ismail Konaté and his friends start navigating the labyrinth of the then-OAU bureaucracy. OAU Resolution CM/Res.944 (XL) is passed in 1984 to facilitate the creation of our Union!
And the Union saw light!
Resolution CM/Res.944 (XL) was not condemned to remain ink on paper! Konaté wins the support of WBU president, Sheikh Abdullah Al-Ghanim of Saudi Arabia, who pledges to bear the costs of the first General Assembly.
1986, Pedro Zurita of Spain, serving as WBU Secretary-General, joins our founding fathers and goes to Addis Ababa to pressure the OAU to release the funds committed for organising the first general assembly of our Union!
October 30, 1987, in Tunis, Tunisia –our Union sees light, named The African Union of the Blind (AFUB) in English and l’Union Africaine des Aveugles (UAFA) in French. And our first president is none other than Mr. Ismail Konaté!
Our history in brief
1988: AFUB registered in Kenya as an International nongovernmental Organisation
1994: Establishment of the first AFUB Women’s Committee
1996: AFUB accorded semi-consulate status in Kenya
1996: Organisation of the first Women’s Forum prior to the third General Assembly
2004: Establishment of the first interim youth committee
2007: AFUB celebrated its 20th anniversary
2008: Organisation of a youth forum on the fringe of the sixth General Assembly and the fourth Women’s Forum
Read Pedro Zurita’s complete testimony on the WBU Silver Jubilee Publication, CHANGING WHAT IT MEANS TO BE BLIND
Read one of the latest interviews with the 70-year-old vibrant Konaté on the April 2009 AFUB News
