In the Malagasy administration, there is a refined art of absence. It is not the physical absence of civil servants, but a more subtle and cruel form: absence through numbers. You are not erased, nor forbidden; you are simply forgotten in the count. And in this country, what is not counted ceases to exist.
On September 3, 2026, the Prime Minister appointed members to the Technical Committee for National Consultation, tasked with supporting the FFKM in the national refoundation project. Everyone is represented—ministries, churches, the Muslim community, consumer associations, and people with albinism. Each group has two seats (a titular and a substitute). Everyone, that is, except for federations of people with disabilities, who were granted only one seat without a substitute. It is as if the vast reality of disability could fit into a single folding chair at the back of the room.
While the state has shown surgical precision in recognizing the specific needs of people with albinism—justifiably so, given the documented violence—it ignores the broader disability community. According to the WHO, 15% of the population lives with a disability, yet Madagascar officially records only 0.6%. By not looking, the state finds exactly what it wants to find: almost nothing.
Data from a 2021 survey by ‘Autisme Madagascar’ reveals harrowing statistics: 69% of authorities and doctors report physical abuse against autistic individuals, and 39% of doctors report sexual violence. These figures exist, but they remain buried in reports that the state has not opened. The excuse of ignorance is no longer valid; only indifference remains.
We are not asking to take anything away from others, but rather for consistency. We request a substitute seat, a breakdown of sub-categories (motor, sensory, intellectual, psychosocial), and a mechanism for reporting violence equivalent to that deployed for albinism. To count is to recognize. What is not counted is not protected, and what is not protected eventually disappears from public policy. Madagascar has proven it can see when it chooses to; it is time to choose to see everyone.
Captured & Published at: 2026-09-09 05:39:07 (Madagascar Local Time EAT)
Original Source: https://www.lexpress.mg/2026/09/ce-qui-ne-se-compte-pas.html