National Disability Policy now before Cabinet
THE crafting of the National Disability Policy aimed at ensuring that people living with disabilities are not discriminated against socially and economically is now complete and is before Cabinet for assessment and approval before it is adopted, a legislator has said.
Senator representing people living with disabilities, Senator Annah Shiri told Sunday News last week that she expected the policy to be approved “any time soon”. Sen Shiri said when adopted, the policy, would help in aligning the Disabled Persons Act to the new Constitution.
She said the policy would also assist in domesticating provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities which Zimbabwe ratified. Sen Shiri added that by domesticating the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the country would have moved together with other progressive countries in putting disability on the national agenda.
“As a country we have the Disabled Persons Act which needs to be aligned to the new constitution. We also need to domesticate the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. For all this to happen we need a National Disability Policy. The policy has been crafted and has gone past all the necessary stages. It is now before cabinet awaiting approval. We expect the policy to be approved any time soon,” she said.
Sen Shiri said the policy, when adopted would improve the lives of disabled people in the country by levelling the playing field for disabled people and their able bodied counterparts. She said the policy would also outline Government’s obligations towards people with disabilities.
“If approved, the policy will transform the lives of people with disabilities. We have now moved from welfare to a human rights approach where we are saying that people with disabilities have rights too and are not charity cases. The policy will impact on other policies and laws in the country. Other policies will have to speak to the Disability Policy to ensure that people with disabilities are accommodated in spaces that they may not have been accommodated before,” she said.
Sen Shiri said the policy would also provide guidelines on how people with disabilities should be involved in policy making and elevated to decision making positions at all levels in society. She said this way the interests of people with disabilities would be catered for.
Sen Shiri also decried the lack of disabled-friendly infrastructure at public places. She said the Disability Policy would also look into how organisations should ensure that their facilities were accessible to people with disabilities.
“The disability policy will ensure that facilities such as ramps, for those on wheelchairs and Braille for the visually impaired among other disabled friendly facilities are found in public places,” she said.
Zimbabwe was one of the first countries to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2013 and remain one of the few countries in Africa with legislation that specifically caters for people with disabilities.