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Today marked a historic moment in the drive toward movement building on social inclusion in the country as the organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) and the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe joined hands through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) meant to address intersectional discrimination.
Historically the women’s movement in collaboration with other CSOs has been working with marginalised groups and has successfully advocated for law and policy reforms in order to ensure that all forms of violence against women are addressed.
OPDs in Zimbabwe have been at the forefront of advocating for disability rights and inclusion with a specific focus on the intersecting forms of stigma and discrimination that women and girls with disabilities face. Given the milestones of these two movements, there is a need to build a coalition to address intersectional discrimination.
Addressing journalists today, Sally Dura Ncube, the National Coordinator of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe said women and girls with disabilities are usually “Left Behind” in gender-based violence interventions and yet they face intersecting forms of discrimination at a higher level in comparison with women without disabilities.
“Inclusion of women with disabilities in initiatives that seek to end all forms of violence against women and girls in Zimbabwe is essential. However, there has been little interaction between the women’s movement and OPDs in the fight against intersectional discrimination though the two share common values which include respect for diversity, solidarity, inclusion, and Non-Discrimination.
“In this context, OPDs and the Women’s Movement in Zimbabwe have decided to establish a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that would forge a transformative Coalition for change in the country. The two social movements have defined the main features of their synergies and collaboration during a first workshop on 10 March 2022, and this second workshop seeks to validate and launch the MoU that should facilitate learning opportunities and exchange of experience in lobbying, advocacy, and policy dialogue for social inclusion, justice, and equality which the two movements have accumulated over the years,” Ncube said.
Her counterpart, Henry Masaya, the Acting Executive director of the National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH) said the MOU – emerging from the support of the European Union-funded Spotlight Initiative – seeks to build a sustainable transformative coalition for social change between OPDs, FODPZ, NASCOH, and the women’s movement led by the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe.
“This MOU will create a platform for both movements to undertake joint advocacy and capacity building initiatives which include; Developing corporate disability and gender advocacy and inclusion strategies in the respective movements, developing partnerships and synergies in existing projects and programs aimed at ending violence against women and girls, especially those implemented at grassroots levels, developing networks and alliances of women’s rights organisations and OPDs at the national, provincial and district levels and raise awareness on gender-based violence, intersectional discrimination, and sexual and reproductive health and rights and disability inclusion,” Masaya said.
Speaking on the same occasion, Leonard Marange, the National Director of the Federation of Organizations of Disabled People in Zimbabwe (FODPZ) called on stakeholders to depart from the culture where the signing of MOUs has been a ritual but said there is a need to put it into a living document with a focus on vulnerable groups within the population since women and girls with disabilities often face a double challenge of exclusion and discrimination.
“This MOU challenges stakeholders to give enough attention and focus to disability issues. We should see a departure from a situation whereby the disability sector has been operating in silos with PWDs often allocated to the welfare department. This pact is meant to take on board women and children with disabilities issues. Thus the MOU is a beginning of a long journey towards achieving disability-inclusive development,” Marange said.
Phinith Chanthalangsy, the Head of the UNESCO Regional Office for Southern Africa’s Social and Human Sciences Unit said the MOU came from the realization that the women’s movement has made strides in fostering the inclusion and mainstreaming of disability rights.
“Thus there is a need to create synergies between OPDs and the women’s movement and consolidate work from both sectors to ensure coexistence to advance gender equality and disability inclusion. The capacity of OPDs is built on advocacy techniques. The MOU will create an opportunity to foster a learning process through learning and sharing of experiences. There is a need to develop networks at the national level and beyond.
“This has the potential to raise more awareness on GBV, build projects, or program interventions to ensure we come up with one stronger advocacy movement while partnerships strengthen institutional capacity on gender and disability with a view of developing a gender and disability machinery from national to the local level,” Chanthalangsy said.
In order to implement and sustain the provisions of this MoU, the three parties committed to building a joint advocacy strategy to mobilize the Government, CSOs, the development partners, and the private sector to support their key areas of focus on addressing the intersectional discrimination facing girls and women with disabilities. Such a strategy includes joint policy dialogues with the different stakeholders – Government, donors, and the private sector, and technical partners –, negotiating joint participation in governance structures such as the SDG Technical Committee or the NDS coordination mechanisms, submitting joint proposals to donors, and mobilizing the respective networks and constituencies at all levels for social movement building around the agenda of fighting intersectional discriminations.
Professor Lidia Arthur Brito, the UNESCO Regional Director and Representative to SADC emphasised the importance of co-creation among women and PWDs.
“Different movements face different challenges but are working in the same environment hence there is a need to build synergies with women’s movements and OPDs. We can do this together. Leaving no one behind ensures we deliver our development agenda. Women and girls with disabilities face multidimensional discrimination. We should defend the rights of PWDs and women. The bringing together of different stakeholders brings a wealth of experience, and best practices to make a difference since there is a lot to learn from each other,” Prof Brito said.
Magdeline Madibela, the Gender and Disability Coordination Advisor of the UN Resident Coordinators Office for Zimbabwe said the MOU is within the framework of the Spotlight Initiative, where UNESCO is leading an initiative to strengthen partnerships between the OPDs and the women’s movement to ensure joint advocacy for disability rights.
“The achievement that will be realised through this Coalition will indeed contribute towards the achievement of the Agenda 2030, the UN Sustainable Development 5 on Gender Equality, SDG 10 on reducing inequalities, and SDG 17 on Partnerships among others and all other SDGs as they are all interlinked. This initiative will also contribute to the effective implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability, CEDAW, and the BPFA.
“At the national level, it is encouraging to note that this important programme will contribute towards the achievement of the National Vision 2030, the National Development Strategy 1 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Framework 2022-2026, National Disability Policy, and the National Gender Policy,” Madibela said.
She emphasised that partnerships and coalitions are the cornerstones of the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The SDGs can only be realized with strong partnerships and cooperation such as this one! A successful development agenda requires inclusive partnerships — at the global, regional, national, and local levels — built upon principles and values, and upon a shared vision and shared goals placing people and the planet at the centre,” she added.
