Amplify voices of persons with disabilities: Deaf Women Included

Community leaders, policymakers, and the media have been urged to amplify the voices of persons with disabilities through inclusivity so that they can access health, education, and social civil liberties.

The call was made last week in Karoi during a Disability Inclusive Reporting workshop facilitated by Deaf Women Included, in partnership with the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community, Small, and Medium Enterprise Development.

Government officials, Karoi town, and Hurungwe Rural district councilors, traditional leaders, media, and local stakeholders attended the meeting.

Hurungwe District Women Affairs Officer, Miriam Kagoro, said media plays a critical role in setting the development agenda in communities.

‘‘We are geared for developmental stories in our communities but we challenge the media to help in amplifying inclusivity of persons with disabilities who must not be excluded as part of decision making in leadership,’’ noted Kagoro.

She added that the media plays a critical role in shaping the public’s attitude through their choice of words, images, and messages put across through stories published.

‘‘Persons with disabilities must not be left behind as part of the developmental agenda in our communities,’’ added Kagoro.

Hurungwe North Widows Association’s chairperson, Sibusiwe Kavimbanemoyo of Nyamakate Village under Chief Chundu added her voice.

She said that some women and girls with disabilities are the worst victims of accessing health care and food security.

‘‘We urge policymakers to assist women and girls with disabilities as some are not accessing better health care including sanitary wear,’’ she added.

Kavimbanemoyo, who was born with one hand, said she has stood up against the community that looks down upon her.

‘‘I have managed to work for my family with one hand and I can do what other able-bodied women can do,’’ she added.

Hurungwe District Information Officer, Munyaradzi Dzinoreva, concurred that such public meetings are informative and educative.

‘‘We need more of these meetings that are as interactive as possible. As media, we are always open to covering developmental stories from a human angle. If we are not invited, we cannot include persons with disabilities in local coverage.

‘‘We therefore call for openness so that media can include positive strides made by your membership,’’ said Dzinoreva.

Deaf Women Included’s Executive Director, Agnes Chindimba, called for a collective responsibility by policymakers who must enact bylaws that cater to persons with disabilities.

‘‘As women with disabilities, we have our health rights including sexual rights. We also need shelter over our heads. It is disheartening that our membership was never considered to access land during the land reform program,’’ said Chindimba.

She added that there is a need for a ‘human rights-based’ approach that adds value to disability as an important dimension of humankind and affirmed that all people, regardless of their impairment, have rights, that include civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and labour.

It was noted that there is a need to raise awareness of the challenges facing persons with disabilities, issues surrounding disability, and factors that contribute to the exclusion and stigmatization of persons with disabilities.

‘‘Let us all bring the discussion of disability into the public arena to challenge the idea of it as a taboo subject. We need our voices to be heard,’’ added Chindimba.

Globally, an estimated 1.3 billion people experience significant disability representing 16% of the world’s population, or 1 in 6 of us.

More than 80 million Africans have disabilities, where nearly 29 million children with disabilities live in Eastern and Southern Africa,’ according to the World Health Organisation.