Gidion Kaino Mandesi
Title: Executive Director
Company/Organization: Disabled Organization for Legal Affairs and Social Economic Development
Program: Claude Ake Memorial Awards Program (CAMAP)
Degree: Non-Degree, Independent Research
Year Completed: 2003
Program: Advanced Training for Leadership and Skills (ATLAS)
Degree: Masters of Laws (L.L.M.)
Year Completed: 1999
Mr. Gidion Kaino Mandesi has worked for nearly two decades, championing the rights of people with disabilities at national, regional and international levels. He is currently the Executive Director of the Disabled Organization for Legal Affairs and Social Economic Development (DOLASED) in Tanzania.
As a young man determined to study law, Gideon was undeterred by the fact that no other sightless person had ever been admitted to and graduated from the University of Dar es Salaam School of Law. In order to enroll and successfully complete the program, he translated the voluminous law school texts into Braille. Mr. Mandesi earned a bachelor of laws (L.L.B.) degree with honors in 1995.
While he was a student at the University of Dar es Salaam, Mr. Mandesi wrote a paper on the legal status of visually impaired people in Tanzania. While carrying out his research, he discovered that Tanzanian family law and government policy did not adequately protect the disabled, and has since spent his academic and professional careers advocating for the rights of the disabled in Tanzania and throughout the globe.
Following the completion of his L.L.B. degree, Mr. Mandesi was awarded a scholarship under the AAI-administered Advanced Training for Leadership and Skills (ATLAS) program and attended American University in Washington, D.C. In 1999, he earned a master of laws (L.L.M.) degree in international legal studies, in which he focused on the international protection of human rights.
Since 1995, Mr. Mandesi has served in several different professional capacities in government and civil society, including Labour Officer in the Ministry of Labour of the Tanzanian Government, State Attorney, Chairperson of the International Disability Alliance, Vice President for the Africa Region of Rehabilitation International, member of the United Nations Panel of Experts, and Board Member of the Southern Africa Human Rights NGO Network.
In 1998, Mr. Mandesi established DOLASED to raise public awareness and advocate for the rights of the disabled in Tanzania. In 2002, he spearheaded a public health project, in which DOLASED created materials in Braille that provided information on HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, and treatment. He continues to conduct similar projects in Tanzania and Mozambique that help to effectively educate disabled populations about HIV/AIDS.
Mr. Mandesi has conducted extensive research and written and presented several papers on the subject of disabilities and human rights. In 2003, Mr. Mandesi was awarded a grant under AAI's Claude Ake Memorial Awards Program (CAMAP) to conduct an independent research project. His research project, entitled “An Investigation of the Plight of Disabled People in Politics and Elections in Tanzania,” has received recognition at the national and international level.
Mr. Mandesi lives with his wife and three children in Tanzania.
In September 2007, Mr. Mandesi was presented with the AAI Distinguished Alumnus Award at AAI's 23rd Annual Awards Gala in New York.
Mr. Mandesi giving acceptance speech at AAI Annual Awards Gala in 2007
Mr. Mandesi is congratulated by Ambassador Augustine Mahiga, Permanent Mission of Tanzania to the United Nations at AAI Annual Awards Gala in 2007