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Creating safety nets for disadvantaged groups including people with disabilities
National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH)
November 16, 2007

An analysis of social welfare practice the world over indicates that the concept of social safety nets in the formulation of public policy has been present in industrialized economies for more than half a century and is now being introduced and adopted in various forms in the developing economies throughout the world, including Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe, in particular, is going through particularly difficult times. This brings into sharp focus the need for social safety nets to be strengthened beyond their current roles and to be expanded in scope, not only to provide greater opportunity for individuals to mitigate risks from unforeseen contingencies and crises that may occur, but also to ensure social cohesion, long-term economic growth and broad-based development.

Social safety nets the world over exist to provide basic financial security, protect vulnerable groups including people with disabilities, and promote equality of opportunity. Not only does the development of social safety nets make an important contribution to reducing the harmful effects of economic shocks on vulnerable groups like the disadvantaged and people with disabilities; they also serve to minimize the costs of structural change and help to promote sustainable and equitable development.

In this article, the concept of social safety nets refers to policies targeted at low income or poor populations and the disadvantaged, including people with disabilities. Examples would be public assistance or social welfare, child protection and child welfare, emergency services, compensatory education and job training, public housing assistance e.t.c. The presentation will not look at those social policies that are universal in nature, i.e. those targeted at the entire population regardless of income or circumstances, but at those policies that are 'means tested' i.e. targeted at those people with specific need (in this case the disadvantaged and people with disabilities).

In Zimbabwe, social safety nets activities undertaken by the government include payment of a monthly maintenance allowance for people with disabilities; payment of school fees for disadvantaged children and children with disabilities through the Basic Education Assistance module (BEAM); availing of vocational training fees for disadvantaged students and students with disabilities; per capita grants for all disability institutions and institutions catering for the disadvantaged; administration grants for all registered organizations working in the field of disability and the disadvantage; provision of free medical care through the Assisted Medical Treatment Order Service (AMTOS); and the provision of assistive devices to people with disabilities.

The questions to be asked here are: Have the social safety nets in Zimbabwe been able to provide basic financial security to people with disabilities and the disadvantaged? Have they been able to protect these vulnerable groups from the effects of economic crises and structural change? Have social safety net activities been able to promote equality of opportunity for people with disabilities and the disadvantaged?

An analysis of the history of social safety nets in Zimbabwe indicates that they have failed to provide basic financial security, protect vulnerable groups including people with disabilities, and promote equality of opportunity.

To put this statement in the proper perspective, the monthly maintenance allowance that is paid out to people with disabilities, a mere $250 000-00, is clearly inadequate to provide the financial security envisaged by the social safety net. Furthermore, this maintenance allowance is yet to be disbursed to people with disabilities this year, further adding to their woes. Payment of BEAM assistance to disadvantaged children and children with disabilities has not been effected at all this year, thus throwing the educational prospects of the majority of this group into jeopardy. The same applies with the payment of vocational training assistance fees. A sizeable number of disability institutions and organizations have not received their administration and per capita grants for some time, and, in all fairness, the grants are too meager to afford any financial security to these organizations. Medical treatment for people with disabilities is hampered by the unavailability of drugs in government hospitals, while spiraling costs and unavailability of foreign currency have hindered access to assistive devices for people with disabilities.

These problems underscore the need for comprehensive and well-funded social safety nets to be put in place before a crisis occurs. These nets can address the needs of people with disabilities, the disadvantaged and the poor in general, in strong economic times, and also be adapted to deal with the effects of a crisis. Pre-crisis planning is also essential in order to address the social effects of crises. This would include the availability of reliable and timely information on the people with disabilities and the disadvantaged and also frequent evaluation of the social safety net programmes. As a result of this lack of information and evaluation, and also because of the fact that people with disabilities and some of the disadvantage have too many problems requiring attention by one or more service systems, they usually fall through the cracks of the social service system or are ignored because none of the systems are set up to help them on multiple fronts.

People with disabilities, in particular, are sidelined even in the area of statistics and reliable data and this makes it difficult to plan meaningful interventions for them. In addition, since social safety nets are many and varied, there is need for countries to select wisely from the wide range of available instruments depending on their administrative and target populations.

The issues of communication, co-ordination and collaboration between the government and non governmental agencies working in the area of disability and the disadvantaged are central to the existence of a sound social safety net system. Communication enables both parties to have accurate knowledge of each other's existence, service offerings, and eligible clientele. They will also know how to access each other's services, and may refer clients to each other. Coordination, in addition to communication, entails supporting each other's efforts to obtain resources for clients. Co-location is one coordination mechanism, as are shared databases, shared application procedures, and other shared processes that nevertheless do not change either party's underlying goals or approaches. Collaboration, on the other hand, entails working with each other to articulate shared goals, analyzing operations to determine how the goals may be achieved, and making changes in the light of this analysis to improve their ability to serve their joint clients to the best of their ability.

Finally, the need for relevant disability legislative and framework, including and especially a National Policy on Disability cannot be overemphasized if credible social safety net systems are to be sustained. The policy would cover cross cutting disability policy issues such as access to the built environment, provision of health, education, employment, transport, accommodation, information, vocational training and provide mechanisms for relevant ministries to implement these policies. The safety net system in Zimbabwe should be broadened to cover all these areas which constitute veritable barriers for people with disabilities. In Sri Lanka, for instance, the state transport policy recognizes the special needs of persons with disability, the elderly, the sick and children. They receive priority consideration when transport facilities are designed. The Ministry of Transport engages in training of bus crews and railway crews on the needs of persons with disabilities and provides appropriate toilet facilities at bus terminals and railway stations for persons with disabilities. The state's Ministry of Public Administration facilitates employment of persons with disabilities by allocating 3% of the workforce to them in the state sector. A National Disability Policy is thus central to the success of any social safety net system for people with disabilities and the disadvantaged.

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