PRESIDENT Mnangagwa is on Friday expected to officially open the 11th edition of the National Disability Expo in Gwanda, Matabeleland South as the Second Republic continues to take the lead in empowering and including persons with disabilities in social, economic and political development.
This year’s edition of the National Disability Expo, which begins today until Friday, is running under the theme “Holistic Empowerment of Youth and Children with Disabilities towards the Attainment of Vision 2030. A better and brighter future for everyone.”
More than 2 000 people drawn from organisations of people with disabilities (PWDs), affiliates and associates of organisations of PWDs, Government ministries and other stakeholders will converge at the Phelandaba Stadium to showcase their skills and abilities.
Under the stewardship of President Mnangagwa, the Second Republic has made great strides towards the creation of an inclusive society that recognises the rights of people with disabilities, among them being the opening up of opportunities for them in empowerment programmes.
Conscious of the need to take everyone on board, in June 2021, President Mnangagwa launched the National Disability Policy. This was followed by the setting up of the Technical National Coordination Committee in 2022 to provide guidance on the implementation of the policy.
The launching of the committee was also aimed at addressing the preconditions necessary for the effective implementation of the United Nations Convention of the rights of persons with disabilities in 2013.
Since the ratification of the convention, Zimbabwe has adopted a raft of measures to advance the rights of people with disabilities.
The National Disability Policy came at a time when Zimbabweans are collectively moving towards achieving the national vision of an empowered and prosperous upper-middle income society by 2030.
The key standards of the policy were drawn from the country’s Constitution and international and continental frameworks, like the UN Convention on the Rights of People living with Disabilities and the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
The policy calls on Government and other stakeholders to ensure access to employment for persons with disabilities and strive to ensure that 15 percent of their workforce in all sectors comprise people with disabilities.
Employers should also observe the principle of equal pay for equal work and provide them with vocational and professional rehabilitation.
Persons with disabilities should also freely choose places they want to live and not be forced to live in particular arrangements or institutions.
The policy urges stakeholders to integrate persons with disabilities into communities in conditions which do not leave them destitute.
The expo’s key focus is to enable those living with disabilities to be aware of existing technologies, equipment, aids, services and products that can allow them to live a fuller life.
The expo will give a platform to stakeholders and organisations representing people with disabilities to exhibit their products, technologies, talents, rafts and other services.
In an interview yesterday, Special Advisor on National Disability Issues in the Office of the President and Cabinet Dr Joshua Malinga said President Mnangagwa will be the guest of honour with over 2 000 people expected to attend the event.
“President Mnangagwa will officiate at this year’s National Disability Expo on Friday, the 30th June. The National Disability Expo gives an opportunity for nation to come and support those people with disabilities and learn how to live with them in an inclusive and conducive environment,” he said.
“It is also an opportunity for people with disabilities to showcase their abilities and talents which are in most cases overshadowed by their disability. The expo will also give an opportunity for PWDs and everyone participating to network and grow their platforms.”
Dr Malinga said organisations of PWDs and their associate organisations will showcase their services, skills, abilities and knowledge with other various stakeholders and individuals.
“Given the clarion call by His Excellency President Mnangagwa to mainstream and include disability in national development, I humbly invite all organisations to come and showcase the programmes and services they are implementing for the empowerment of persons with disabilities,” he said.
Dr Malinga implored all Zimbabweans to continue safeguarding and promoting the gains of an empowered society as 2030 beckons.
He said there is a need for the empowerment of PWDs so that their livelihoods are enhanced. – The Chronicle
