The Sunday News
WHILE much progress has been made, particularly within the legislative and policy arenas, the ideals of inclusive development and full participation will not become a reality unless disability-inclusive policies and programmes are readily accepted and effectively implemented. For this to happen, society itself needs to be radically reshaped.
Disabling barriers, such as stigmatising attitudes and beliefs, inaccessible infrastructure and discriminatory processes need to be systematically dismantled. Most importantly, disabled people and the organisations that represent them need to be at the forefront of their own development and empowerment.”
That is the argument by Dr David Cobley, a Teaching Fellow at the International Development Department, University of Birmingham in the UK. He further postulates that “disabled people are disproportionately represented among the poor, have higher levels of unmet health needs, and are more than twice as likely as non-disabled people to be unemployed (in countries for which data is available).
Disabled children are particularly disadvantaged, with higher mortality rates and lower rates of school attendance and completion than non-disabled children. In fact, with disabled children representing over a third of those children currently excluded from schooling, the goal of universal primary education cannot come close to being achieved without addressing the factors that give rise to their exclusion.”
We also note that disability and development have traditionally been regarded as separate fields, with development policy, planning and programming often failing to take account of disability issues. But experts say the two fields are now gradually coming together, with a growing acceptance that global development targets cannot be achieved unless disability is treated as a cross-cutting, priority issue, in much the same way as gender has been for many years now.
In addition, experts note, the “shift has come about largely through the efforts of disabled people themselves, who have articulated their own experiences and challenged society to be more flexible and accommodating.”
Issues that pertain affording disabled people opportunities to sustain themselves socially and economically have been discussed for some time in the country. However, the launching of the National Disability policy by President Mnangagwa last Wednesday heralded a new chapter. The Disability policy was launched together with the Labour Migration Policy.
The two policies are part of Government efforts to ensure inclusivity as the country embarks on its development path and the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) was disability inclusive and acknowledges Diaspora engagement.
The National Disability Policy is a culmination of consultations between Government and representatives of persons with disabilities that began when the President met them in 2018 to ensure that disability programmes were mainstreamed in the Government institutions and activities as required by section 222 of the Constitution.
In his address, President Mnangagwa said people with disabilities should not be viewed as charity cases but as individuals capable of contributing to the development of the country like any other citizen.
“The journey towards the attainment of Vision 2030 of an empowered and prosperous upper middle income society entails that no one and no place should be left behind. To advance this quest, the importance of legislative frameworks and policies that guide us as we fulfil, promote, protect and respect the rights of this and other constituencies cannot be over-emphasised,” he said.
The Government had made great advances in addressing the plight of persons with disabilities through the establishment of the Special Advisor on Disability Issues Unit headed by Cde Joshua Malinga and the Department of Disabled Persons. The Government also approved the policy on the equalisation of employment opportunities for people with disabilities in employment.
“Most recently, the Public Service Commission has commenced the recruitment of gender, wellness and inclusivity personnel for all the Government ministries and agencies. These must ensure that disability is mainstreamed in the whole of Government, among other institutions,” he said.
The President bemoaned the delays in passing the amendment to the Disabled Persons Act, despite the principles being crafted in 2018, saying it was not in keeping with Government’s work ethic. He also criticised harmful cultural practices, discrimination and marginalisation of people with disabilities saying that these practices should end.
“The event to launch the National Disability Policy is an important milestone towards the implementation of the United Nations (UN) Convention. It also positions Zimbabwe as a global frontrunner on disability inclusion and 2030 agenda for Sustainable Development. Often the process of developing a policy can be as important as the final product itself.
“In this case, the policy making process included extensive engagement between Organisations of Persons with Disabilities and legal drafters. The engagement of persons with disabilities was done, in part, with support from the joint UN-EU Spotlight Initiative to end violence against women and girls,” said UN Resident Coordinator, Ms Maria Robeiro.
