Andrew
Disability Issues
Dr Christine Peta
THE United Nations International Human Solidarity Day is commemorated on December 20 each year.
The concept of solidarity is deemed crucial in the fight against poverty and in the involvement of all relevant stakeholders. Within the context of international relations, globalisation and growing inequality, solidarity is rooted in the principle that those who suffer the most deserve help from those who benefit the most.
At a broader level, the UN states that the Sustainable Development Agenda is centred on people and the planet, underpinned by human rights and supported by a global partnership determined to lift people out of poverty, hunger and disease. It is built on a foundation of global cooperation and solidarity.
Nonetheless, in this article, I focus on the subject of solidarity between people with disabilities and non-disabled persons, within the context of promoting economic empowerment of individuals with disabilities. The aim is to lift persons with disabilities out of poverty, hunger and disease.
Non-disabled members of society have been socialised to feel incredibly uncomfortable around people with disabilities.
Some employers hold the fallacious belief that a healthy human resource base is that which consists of non-disabled people. When an employee acquires disability during the course of employment, he or she is immediately labelled an employee with “special needs”, who is costly and is a burden to the organisation and must be retired on medical grounds.
Some non-disabled employers forget that no one is immune to disability and they can also acquire disabilities at any time, through, for example, illness or road accidents.
Referring to individuals with disabilities as people with “special needs” is inappropriate. “Special” would be applicable if, for example, people with disabilities sleep in trees, or if they have breakfast with fish eggs on a daily basis. The bottom line is that people with disabilities need access to education and employment opportunities on an equal basis with others; these are human needs and there is nothing “special” about them.
Section 3.2.16 of the National Disability Policy of Zimbabwe directs unity through the building of alliances between persons with disabilities and non-disabled persons, with the aim of working together to improve standards of living.
Research has indicated that not all people with disabilities are poor. However, data is showing that persons with disabilities are poorer than their non-disabled counterparts in terms of access to education, healthcare, employment, income, social support and civic involvement.
Section 3.2.15 of the National Disability Policy states that people with disabilities and their families must be empowered so that they use various resources, including local ones, to effectively and efficiently uplift their own standard of living, as well as contribute towards the mainstream national development agenda.
Opportunities for creating co-operatives that are inclusive of people with disabilities and non-disabled people must be created and sustained. Some non-disabled individuals shun products that are manufactured by people with disabilities, with the belief that such products are substandard, yet disability is not inability.
What, therefore, do people with disabilities expect from non-disabled people? Research has indicated that, at personal level, one of the most powerful but least understood components of ableism is the way people with disabilities are expected to always “behave themselves”, be “reasonable” in their demands and “civil” in their advocacy.
People with disabilities report that their lives would be much easier, and these values would also be much easier to uphold, if non-disabled people would equally commit to them. These must, therefore, be mutual obligations.
- Understanding
Some non-disabled people, for example, do not want to work with people with disabilities, based on the argument that those with disabilities easily get angry or lose their tempers on what may appear minor disagreements. People with disabilities are regularly misunderstood, stigmatised and denied opportunities and basic human rights. That is not a reason to condone such anger, but it is to say that there is a need for non-disabled people to understand the challenges that are experienced by those with disabilities, as we seek to work together to reduce poverty.
- Patience
In business and professional interactions especially, non-disabled duty bearers need to exercise patience in dealing with people with disabilities. Both people with disabilities and non-disabled persons need to be diplomatic, and to manage relationships with each other and the institutions that we all rely on. The list includes doctors and nurses, teachers and professors, family and paid caregivers, counsellors, government officials, police, bosses and supervisors, and, of course, politicians and elected officials.
- Resilience
One of the most common ways that people with disabilities are praised for is their “resilience” — their ability to absorb hardship, handle it gracefully and not allow themselves to be defeated by it. But strong disability advocacy may not be much fun for those on the receiving end, and the approaches of people with disabilities may need to be fine-tuned. Nonetheless, strong, emotionally honest, disability advocacy is an essential part of the continuing liberation of people with disabilities in the modern world. But it is not good to be hateful, vindictive or to intentionally insult non-disabled people in the name of activism. While we all need to constructively express how we feel, unguided anger can be harmful.
Solidarity between people with disabilities and non-disabled people is essential for creating social change. Solidarity brings us together, unites us and forges collective efforts that strengthen our resolve to fight poverty in ways that involve all relevant stakeholders.
Dr Christine Peta is a disability, policy, international development and research expert. She is also the national director of Disability Affairs in Zimbabwe. She can be contacted on: [email protected]
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