Ms. Alden started by welcoming the EDAN Reference Group to Sweden before informing them that SWEDISH ORGANISATIONS’ OF DISABLED PERSONS INTERNATIONAL AID ASSOCIATION (SHIA) is a Swedish Disabled Persons Organisation started in 1981 during the International Year of Persons with Disabilities (IYDP) by the main 26 organisations representing all the major disabilities in the country. However SRF and SDR which are the oldest had started lots of global networks in Africa through sister organizations.