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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Truth, justice, reconciliation and national healing - Index of articles
Disability
should be put at the forefront of peace building and healing interventions
National
Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH)
November 04, 2008
With the prospect
of enduring peace looming large on the horizon, national attention
is gradually and predictably shifting from preoccupation with arresting
and mitigating the tide of conflict and social upheaval, to imperatives
of peace building and national healing.
If and when
these peace building and healing initiatives take off in earnest,
there is no doubt that disability, an undeserved population that
has, paradoxically, remained largely marginalised from mainstream
developmental interventions, needs to be put at the forefront of
these physical and social reconstruction efforts: the violence that
rocked the country in the build-up to the June elections resulted
in hundreds of people being maimed and traumatised, thus further
swelling the ranks of people with disabilities in Zimbabwe; the
economic downturn, coupled with an unprecedented drought and a resultant
lack of access to health care, impacted disproportionately and negatively
on people with disabilities, the majority of whom are among the
poorest of the poor, thus further pushing them into the quagmire
of poverty and depression; the economic and social hardships have
led to a hardening of social attitudes towards people with disabilities
as more and more people shift their focus towards the fundamentals
of survival, thus further alienating and compounding the marginalisation
of people with disabilities.
To cap it off,
disability is an under funded, under resourced and underserved population
which suffers from a crippling lack of capacity, a fact which has
been underscored by a Department for International Development (DFID)
scoping study conducted early this year. The social and economic
downturn has served to worsen this lack of capacity, while further
worsening the plight of disability as an under funded, under resourced
and underserved population. For the disability sector, the need
for physical and social reconstruction has never been stronger.
In light of
the foregoing, there is need to put in place peace building and
healing interventions targeting, among other initiatives, the provision
of community based physical and psycho-social rehabilitation; identification
and assessment of people with disabilities and development of individual
rehabilitation plans; provision of psycho-social and physical therapy
to persons with disabilities; provision of assistive devices such
as prosthetics (e.g. artificial limbs), orthotics (wheelchairs,
crutches, etc); development and strengthening of earning opportunities
for people with disabilities and their families in order to enhance
livelihood opportunities; and capacity building of service providers
and disabled peoples organisations in providing services, raising
public awareness on disability issues, lobby and advocacy and representing
people with disabilities. Such training will allow disability organisations
to continue sustaining the programme through efforts aimed at rebuilding
the social infrastructure, including reintegration of people with
disabilities, resettlement, retraining, and physical and psychological
care.
In particular,
there is need to equip people with disabilities with social reconstruction
skills, trauma intervention and conflict resolution skills founded
on a deep understanding of the complex political, economic and social
forces and events that contributed to the context in which the traumatising
experiences occurred. Such programmes would ensure that people with
disabilities would experience improved quality of life in their
communities by being physically and socially rehabilitated, by being
accorded access to health and education services, and by being mainstreamed
into community social and economic life. In tandem, the related
programmes on capacity building would ensure that disability service
providers, and Disabled Peoples Organisations, non-governmental
and civil society organisations would be able to provide services
and mainstream disability issues into their regular work programme
on a sustainable basis.
The lack of
capacity within disability organisations presents potent and particular
challenges to PWDs when it comes to organising around their issues
and influencing policy makers and other development actors about
disability issues. As a result, the improvement of the lives and
well being of PWDs is severely compromised. Other resulting impacts
from this lack of capacity include:
- Limited understanding
of the bigger picture. This refers to the understanding or appreciation
of the interconnectedness of conditions in which PWDs live, and
the active forces of underdevelopment, including those that marginalise
them. This lack of understanding of the bigger picture results
in DPOs engaging in piecemeal interventions instead of comprehensive
and holistic measures that take into account the interconnectedness
of disability concerns and barriers. This also impacts on the
ability of the organisation to identify its needs, build its abilities
to be effective and seek partners that can help it to address
these needs.
- The ability
to network effectively and relate with other organisations was
severely limited, resulting in missed opportunities and unmet
needs.
- Weak systems
of internal organisational governance, resulting in reduced accountability
and consequent negative perception by the donor community, corporate
bodies and other stakeholders.
- Lack of
strategic planning and sound channeling and use of energies and
resources resulting in little programmatic impact being achieved.
- Lack of
sound financial management resulting in loss of donor trust.
- Lack of
sound staff management, team cohesion and motivational policies
that result in low staff morale and commitment, thus compromising
organisational performance.
- Ineffective
programme delivery due to lack of proper project management.
- Improper
office management resulting in perceived unreliability, inefficiency
and ineffectiveness.
- Bad donor
relations, unsound profile or reputation and weak financial base
stemming from lack of a comprehensive publicity, fundraising and
donor relations strategy.
- An inability
to meet donor needs in measuring the effectiveness and impact
of complex developmental programmes.
- Lack of negotiation,
mediation and conflict resolution strategies to address inevitable
disability-induced conflicts with other disability organisations,
and stakeholders.
- Lack of
knowledge on how to bring about required change in child interventions.
These deficiencies
threaten the operational effectiveness and organisational viability
of disability organisations and need to be addressed comprehensively
in order for disability organisations to be empowered to intervene
and work for the betterment of the lives of people with disabilities
and should thus also form the focus of peace building and healing
efforts.
Newly
formed disability organization seeks assistance
A recently-formed
organization of people with disabilities, the Zimbabwe Amputees
Association, whose aim is to facilitate the rehabilitation of amputees
in Zimbabwe, promote their participation in the mainstream socio-economic
and cultural activities and avail them with assistive devices, is
appealing for office furniture and computers in order to kick-start
its operations.
The organization
has since secured an office but is hampered by the lack of office
furniture and equipment. Organisations and individuals willing to
help can contact Stephen Mukwahuri on cell +263 912 739861 or Veronica
Chinyerere on +263 912 739815 or e-mail zaamputees@yahoo.com.
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