The ManicaPost
Greta Mauwa
ABSOLUTELY no one plans to be born with disability or plans to acquire disability.
This becomes a reality when one succumbs to a chronic illness or accident leading to a physical disability. It is indeed true that disability can happen to anyone at any time.
I am sure as you are reading through this article there is a friend, relative or colleague who comes to mind.
Persons with disabilities exist in all communities across Zimbabwe. In fact, approximately 15 percent of Zimbabwe’s population of almost 15 million includes persons with disabilities, the majority being women.
Sadly, the Disabled Persons Act which was the primary law dealing exclusively with disability matters fell short of adequately addressing the human rights issues of people with disabilities.
It mainly followed the medical model of disability which locates disability within the person and views the rights of people with disabilities under clinical lenses.
This perception has been discarded following the launch of the National Disability Policy by his Excellency, President Emmerson Mnangagwa on the 9th of June 2021.
Zimbabwe has already made great strides in recognizing the rights of persons with disabilities by ratifying to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD, 2006).
Furthermore, the 2013 Constitution enunciates disability issues as a national objective (Section 22) that seeks to advance the rights of persons with disabilities in the country.
The thirty-three key standards of the National Disability Policy in Section 3 were drawn from the national Constitution as well as international and continental frameworks such as UNCRPD.
Some of the key issues are the right to life, economic empowerment and self-reliance, living conditions, health, education, recreation and leisure, sport, exploitation violence and abuse, access to assistive devices, personal mobility and communication, social protection and access to justice, among others.
The National Disability Policy calls for the fulfilment of the rights of persons with disabilities in all facets of life.
In order to champion their rights, two Senators were appointed under Section 120(1d) of the Constitution after being nominated by persons with disabilities.
It is against this background that the policy was crafted to assist in domesticating provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The Disability Policy was developed with support from various stakeholders.
It seeks to address the marginalisation and discrimination of persons with disabilities, empower them to improve their own quality of life and enable them to contribute towards the national development agenda.
The main objective of the policy is to mainstream disability in all laws, policies, guidelines, programs and interventions (designed or adapted) to ensure that they are inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities.
Disability is a cross cutting and interdisciplinary issue that should be incorporated in all planning, designing, budgeting, implementing, monitoring and evaluation.
The best practice for ensuring inclusion of person with disabilities is to build capacity through trainings in disaster management, budgeting for disability inclusion and including them in governing structures.
Section 4 of this policy emphasises the significance of establishing a disability focal unit in all Government ministries and agencies.
It is therefore critical to collectively be responsible and move the provisions of the policy from print to reality so as to make a positive impact in the lives of persons with disabilities and their families.
The Disability Policy comes at a time when persons with disabilities have experienced a myriad of challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The national lockdowns put in place to curb the spread of the virus have unfortunately affected persons with disabilities in a negative way as they need frequent close contact with caregivers.
They also face an increased risk of infection due to underlying health conditions.
Most disaster risk management initiatives are silent on disability, yet people with disabilities are more vulnerable to such disasters.
According to a research conducted by UNESCO (2020), a total of 79 percent of the respondents with disabilities are not aware of the Government Covid-19 response plan.
Organisations representing persons with disabilities who were consulted in the planning of the national response were not involved in the implementation structures and processes.
Such gaps need to be addressed by formulating and implementing strategic plans or guidelines for the protection and safety of persons with disabilities within the context of crisis.
There is need to ensure that no one is left behind. Funding programmes for disability management is a prerequisite in ensuring that no one is left behind.
There is also need for Government to spearhead the collection of disability specific data to make it possible for development programmes to serve persons with disabilities more accurately.
Awareness campaigns are necessary to change attitudes towards persons with disabilities and eliminate the stigma.
They are not charity cases. Persons with disabilities simply need to be wholly included in the national development agenda.
Greta Mauwa is a community psychologist intern
