Vusumuzi Dube
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
A MATABELELAND South Province based disability organisation — Nkomwa Foundation Trust has entered into partnerships with local authorities, Government agencies and organisations where it is urging them to mainstream disability issues in their programming.
Nkomwa Foundation Trust (NFT) director, Mr Pick Nkomwa said they have signed MOUs with Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC), World Vision, Gwanda Rural District Council, Gwanda Municipality and Maggie’s Unique Designs.
He said more MOUs will be signed with various partners to help ensure that departments and organisations are more involved in disability issues.
“As an organisation, we entered into a strategic five-year partnership with various stakeholders aimed at advancing disability inclusion across Gwanda District. The collaboration was formalised through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), which establishes a clear framework for joint action to ensure that children, youths and families living with disabilities are meaningfully included in social, economic and developmental programmes,” he said.
The partnerships bring together extensive community development footprint from various organisations and NFT’s specialised expertise as a disability-led community-based organisation.
They also seek to address structural, social and attitudinal barriers that continue to exclude persons with disabilities, particularly in rural communities.
Mr Nkomwa said effective development programmes require strong partnerships, especially at local level, to achieve true localisation and the meaningful inclusion of people with disabilities and their representative organisations.
He said the partnership underscores the urgent need to mainstream disability inclusion across key sectors, including education, health, livelihoods, food security, child protection, disaster risk reduction and spiritual nurturing.
NFT will provide technical leadership and on-the-ground expertise in disability identification and assessment, awareness campaigns, disability parenting forums, and improving access to education for boys and girls with disabilities.
The partnerships also place strong emphasis on youth empowerment, with provisions to facilitate enrolment of young people with disabilities into vocational and skills training programmes.
“Capacity building forms a critical pillar of the collaboration, with NFT supporting the training of headmasters, teachers, community leaders and government officials to promote inclusive disability development. This includes strengthening sign language capacity and enhancing community-level understanding of disability rights and inclusion.
“We are more than ready to transform and change the narrative of persons with disabilities in Gwanda District. If programming is not inclusive, then it is simply not effective,” he said.
“The MoU with the Zimbabwe National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC) marks an important step toward inclusive and equitable access to sexual and reproductive health services. This partnership strengthens efforts to ensure that persons with disabilities are not left behind in accessing accurate information, counselling and family planning services.” — @DubeMatutu
Online Reporter
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