SEDRA seeks to change views on ‘special’ people
ABU DHABI: SEDRA Foundation has launched an inclusion campaign that seeks to change the stereotypes around people of determination in media and marketing.
The campaign, called ‘This is Me’, was launched to mark the United Nations Day of People with Disabilities. It will see SEDRA publishing 100 selfportraits and personal interviews of UAE nationals, residents and friends from Bahrain to Poland.
It aims to create a more accurate and authentic representation of people of determination in media, marketing and fashion, start a database of people of determination for photoshoots and stock photography and launch a dialogue with the public about the portrayal of people of determination about the dynamics of stereotyping.
Renate Baur-richter, programme manager at SEDRA Foundation, said: “Media, marketing and fashion should be bold and reflect the world in which we live. With one in five of us worldwide living with a disability, having a disability is a natural part of human experience and, like other forms of diversity, it should be shown as part of an accurate narrative, not excluded.”
“This is Me” aims to reach decision-makers to support them in creating diverse and inclusive practices in their organisations.
The self-portraits with the handwriten or self-designed “This is Me” sign in the background are one layer of this self-representation. The questionnaire adds complexity, counter the oten one-dimensional portrayal of people of determination.
Amplifying the sense of connectedness between the community and across cultures and generations, SEDRA used an over 100-year old questionnaire, which has been answered by authors and thinkers as Marcel Proust, Sonallah Ibrahim, advocates and actors as Jane Goodall and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Known as “Proust’s Questionnaire”, it is designed to reveal the answerer’s life journeys, aspirations, and sensibility in a series of simple questions.
Asked what is that he most dislikes, Murtaza Raza, a 24-year-old man who has cerebral palsy and lives in Abu Dhabi, answer: “Being treated like an unintelligent person.”