Chronicle Editor
Patrick Chitumba – [email protected]
PEOPLE living with disabilities (PLWDs) should continue to fight for inclusivity in society and in different Government sectors so that they are given opportunities to play their role in socio-economic development in line with Vision 2030.
This was said by the National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDP) president Mrs Anna Shiri at a national elective congress held at Mkoba Teachers’ College in Gweru over the weekend.
Mrs Shiri was re-elected uncontested for another four-year term.
Disability, she highlighted as a concept, has two critical dimensions, one being a long-term impairment and two as a set of norms, attitudes, policies, and structures which when combined serve as a barrier to inclusion.
Barriers are what turn an impairment into a disability.
Persons with disabilities are more likely to be trapped in a vicious circle of poverty and experience adverse socio-economic outcomes more frequently than persons without disabilities.
Mrs Shiri noted that the disabled community should be given equal opportunities and work with able-bodied people in different sectors so that they can prove their worth and help grow the country’s economy.
“People living with disabilities should continue to fight for inclusivity in society and in the different Government sectors so that they are given opportunities to play their role in socio-economic development in line with Vision 2030,” she said.
“The fact that we are disabled does not mean we are unable to work and improve our lives. We want to be awarded the same chances and opportunities to work hand-in-hand with the abled community and we will prove that we can also do well and grow our economy.”
Mrs Shiri said President Mnangagwa launched the country’s national disability policy in 2021 that seeks to address the marginalisation and discrimination of PLWDs, empower them to improve their quality of life and enable them to contribute towards the national development agenda.
“The policy, she noted, sets standards for the inclusion of PLWDs in all facets of life, thereby serving as an overarching policy framework on disability across all sectors, including the public, private and development sectors,” she said.
The NCDPZ president said although the organisation has been trying to assist the disabled there is a need for Government to play a bigger role in including the disabled in economic, social and political activities of the country.
“We need more representatives of disabled people in our communities, Government, judicial sector, institutions and political sector. People who are like us and are able to stand for us knowing exactly how we feel and are able to address our plight as well as bringing solutions which satisfy our needs,” she said.
The Minister of Public Service, Labour, and Social Welfare Professor Paul Mavima has previously expressed the Government’s full commitment to safeguarding, promoting, and respecting the rights of PLWDs.
Professor Mavima emphasised that the Government is working on a new law to ensure alignment with the Convention on the
Rights of Persons with Disabilities and that persons with disabilities are fully integrated and engaged at all levels of national development processes.
The Disability Policy reaffirms the commitment by the Second Republic to ensure that rights of all persons with disabilities are respected, promoted and protected.
This is in line with the developmental path being pursued by the Government that is inclusivity and leaving no one behind. —@pchitumba1
Online Reporter