By Phitalis Were Masakhwe, 2005-11-29
Twelve years ago the United Nations (UN) General Assembly declared 3rd of December
as International Day for people with Disabilities. This was a build up to earlier
initiatives by the UN to get the international community to recognize and include
people with disability in all spheres of life. Such initiatives included, but not
limited to, the International year of Disabled, the UN Decade of Disabled People,
which culminated into the World Program of Action for disabled people (1992) and
the UN Standard rules on equalization of opportunities for people with disabilities
(1993).
So what is the whole hullabaloo about the UN day for disabled people? This day was
set aside, I hope, with the genuine intention to mobilize and galvanize the world
to do a serious soul searching about the needs, aspiration and concerns of the over
600m people with disabilities, worldwide. It was also supposed to create awareness
about their issues with a view to spontaneously fashion concrete community, national
and international programs to give them a new lease of life.
By the way, what are these issues? Disabled people suffer disproportionately from
exclusion and discrimination even in their own homes. They rarely go to school because
their parents, many a times are under illusion that taking them to school is a risky
investment. Some school head teachers imagine that enrolling children with disabilities
in their schools will “spread” disabilities to other children. They believe that
disability is contagious. Children, who suffer from epilepsy, though not a disability
in itself, but a condition that can lead to one, know what I am talking about.
It is now globally acknowledged that women are disadvantaged in many respects. Disabled
women have a different story all together. According to UNESCO, only one in six,
of disabled women in developing countries get a chance to go to school. Of course
marriage for majority of them is “a taboo” especially in Africa, where men expect
a “perfect woman” as one who is able to carry fire wood and water and babies from
as far as you can imagine.
But, in this fast changing world one does not have to physically do these household
chores to be considered a true woman! Today, career visually impaired women hire
sighted people to work for them in their farms and homes. We have seen them work
and bring piped water to their households and communities. We have seen employed
people with disabilities bring hope and development to their families and communities.
But, this is possible only if we give them a chance and opportunity! We have to invest
in them.
We must review our definition and perception of “beautiful and perfect human being”
All human beings, the disabled included are beautiful, handsome and perfect in their
own ways. Infact the holy book, the bible unequivocally says that we were all made
in the image and likeness of God. It does not say that those with disabilities were
made from the image of a warthog or monkey, you know! I think that God has a dual
image and likeness of both disabled and non disabled, theologians may not agree with
this and they don’t have to, but that is the truth according to a branch of philosophy
called logic! That is why I don’t believe that those with disabilities should be
paraded in public in the so called “miracle crusades and healings”.
After all God made them in his own image and likeness and he knows that they are
as complete human beings as they can be, their impairments notwithstanding! What
kind of power or magic touch, therefore can a frail fellow human being in the name
of evangelist have over that of God to make disabled people feel that they are less
or incomplete people in need of excessive prayers and healing?
The disabled should be confident and proud of whom they are and not allow half baked
and suspicious characters in the name of preachers to play around with their psychology.
This is partly to blame for the abysmally low sense of self esteem among the majority
of people with disabilities. Well, lets reserve disability and theology for a another
day.
In conflicts and war situations, disabled people are left to die and for those who
survive, your guess is as good as mine as to what happens to them in refugee camps.
And the war itself, accidents, terrorism, disease burden, genetic malfunctioning,
land mines, earthquakes and tsunamis continue to multiply their numbers, anyway.
But the beauty about many of these causes of disability is that they are exceptionally
generous; they discriminate against no one. That is why this issue is not about “them
and us” We are all in this boat and the earlier the world comes to that realization
the better!
No wonder the former UN Secretary- General Peres De Cuer, described disability as
“a silent emergency in our time.” A ticking time bomb, so to speak. His idea was
that we should treat disability and the concerns of disabled people with the urgency
and seriousness that they deserve. Are we doing that?
Back to the day of the disabled December 3rd. Has the day served its purpose, over
the 12 years it has been commemorated? Was it set aside to play public relations
with disabled people and hence postpone their issues? If not what can we show for
it? On this day, Governments all over the world will say niceties and promise all
manner of promises to disabled people only to forget them as soon as they leave that
podium. Speeches will take the tone like, “my government is fully committed to the
welfare of disabled people. Disabled people are important members of our society.
We will take serous measures to make ensure that nobody hides disabled children.
We will ensure that all disabled people get education, training and employment.”
Disabled people listening will either cheer or jeer depending on their level of civic
consciousness. That will be all! They will then wait for another year and the choruses
will be the same. How I wish we could march this rhetoric with concrete, albeit small
actions. The world will be far much better place for the disabled to live.
What about Non Governmental Organizations NGOs, or are they called civil society
or faith based organizations, to use their own terminologies? What of donors or development
partners? They will say? “We are committed to mainstreaming people with disabilities
in all spheres of our development cooperation and programs,” what ever that means!
I think by mainstreaming they simply want to say they include and integrate disabled
people in their work. But is that the case?
Interestingly, all NGOs and donors have one thing in common, they all say, that they
are “committed” to observance of human rights of “all” people and to poverty eradication
as expressed in Millennium Development Goals and similar grand pro-poor schemes.
A serious critique of these international landmark development blue prints, however
reveal a conspicuous absence of disabled people. May be we need reminding that according
to the World Bank, one out of every six absolutely poor, has one form of disability
or the other? Will they realize these key targets without including over 80 million
people with disability in Africa, and 600 million globally? Well they may, for miracles
never ends!
It does not need a nuclear physicist to realize that the current international development
thinking, cooperation, planning and execution is unfair and dishonest to those with
disabilities. It largely excludes them. I wish to submit that this is development
apartheid and hypocrisy to say the least!
Take a walk to many of the offices of governments, NGOs, development partners and
even the private sector. Do they have functioning disability affirming policies?
If they have, are their offices accessible to those with disability? And how accessible
are their information or what is commonly referred to as information, education and
communication IEC materials to people with various communication needs?
How many employees with disability do they have and in what positions? Are they just
messengers and telephone operators or do they have a few of them in decision making
positions. If development partners are genuine and truly committed to a fair and
just world, are disability and the concerns of people with disabilities one of the
conditionality in their bilateral development and technical co-operation and disbursement
of development assistance?
Am aware that many of them have flowery statements on disability equality, but that
is as far as they go! Are the disabled visible and active participants in their programs,
no! High sounding statements and declarations are good music to the ears, but they
will never put foot on the table, period!
What mechanisms do governments, development partners and NGOs have for disability
inclusion, monitoring and auditing of the same? In terms of liquid money, how much
of their overall budgets are set aside for this cause? For that is the only way we
can measure their true commitment, otherwise the rest is mere propaganda. For we
shall know them by their actions, works or is fruits!
Ladies and gentlemen, as we “celebrate” yet, another day for people with disability,
let’s remember that disability is a serious agenda of not just development and human
rights, but international peace and security, as well. If we lock out thousands upon
thousands of young men and women with disabilities from education, training and employment
they will become a burden to us economically. They may also resort to other undignified
and anti-social means of survival.
Socially, morally and intellectually, it is wrong to exclude one in ten of the world’s
population from mainstream social, economic and political life. Always remember that
the apartheid regime tried to block out the black majority in South Africa, but with
devastating consequences. We should learn from history.
Don’t forget for a moment that extreme poverty, discrimination, exclusion and hopelessness
that characterize the situation and lives of majority of disabled people, especially
in developing countries, is a powerful ingredient and recipe for discontent and chaos.
As the French states man and former President, Francois Mitterrand once said, “If
we buy into the illusion that we can make this world habitable for only a few, we
will make it inhabitable all together.” Say yes to the disabled!
The writer is a Sociologist, has a physical disability and is a regular commentator
on Disability and development. He is also a member of the Kenya National Council
for People with Disabilities.
