The Sunday News
Johnsias Mutonhori, Midlands Correspondent
A CALL has been made for Zimbabweans to include people with disabilities in key developmental and decision making programmes as a way of ensuring that their needs are catered for.
Speaking at a stakeholder workshop in Gweru last week, National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) programme manager Mr Nicholas Nicodimus said some social and cultural issues have for a long-time marginalised people with disabilities in decision making processes.
National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ)
He added that some cultural practices perceive disability as inability, a misconception which has left most of the disabled people misjudged within communities.
“Some social and cultural practices subject PLWDs to judgemental attitudes, limiting them to enjoy their constitutional rights.
People and the society at large must stop judging disabled persons based on their physical condition.
“In a number of scenarios, people with disabilities become victims or objects of pity, burdens from family, careers or society as a whole.
At times they are also perceived as a threat to the comfort and safety of others and assumed to be unable to do things.
Wheelchair
“It must be understood that people with disabilities are also human beings with ideas and vision which can be shared for national development,” he said.
Mr Nicodimus said PLWDs and young girls suffer arbitration within communities and sometimes block them from accessing basic health services such as condoms and family planning tablets.
“This, however, makes them vulnerable to unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted related diseases.”
Mr Nicodimus added that community and religious leaders should consider PLWDs in the decision making process and give them platforms to showcase their talents.
However, Zimbabwe is one of the countries with a clear disability policy which was launched by President Mnangagwa last year.
The policy embraces the involvement of people with disabilities as the country gears towards attainment of the economic Vision 2030.
