Welcome to the “disABILTY FOCUS”

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We would like to take this opportunity to welcome you, readers, to this new blog, The disABILTY FOCUS which tackles issues affecting persons with disabilities in Malawi and beyond.


As you may be aware, while most of us have been reading a number of blogs on the Internet and columns in newspapers and other publications focusing on a thematic issue like gender, most of you will however testify that this is probably the first time you will be reading, and following, a blog that specifically tackles issues on disabilities in Malawi. It is in this context why the authors – Mussa Chiwaula of Federation of Disability Organisations in Malawi (FEDOMA) and George Mwika Kayange of Child Rights Information & Documentation Centre (CRIDOC) – have initiated the blog.


Through this blog, we intend to help raise awareness and encourage debate on key issues that affect persons with disabilities in Malawi. We also aim to assess the role of various stakeholders in the promotion of rights of persons with disabilities, including advocating for relevant policies and legislation.


Above all, we believe that by engaging you, our readers, together we can contribute something positive towards mainstreaming disability in various policies and development programmes in our midst. The mainstreaming of disability in government policies and programme implementation has been the key demand of the international disability movement for decades. It is also the central plank in the UN's Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities unveiled in 1996.


However, as research shows, nowhere in either the North or the South has disability mainstreaming been adequately addressed. For example, the Disability country reports on Cambodia, Rwanda and India show that although some slight progress has been made, particularly with respect to education, in all these countries persons with disabilities remain almost totally divorced from the social, economic and political mainstream. This is despite the fact that mainstreaming of disability issues continues to be seen by Persons with disabilities’s Organisations (DPOs) as a key strategy for achieving equality in India, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi.


The term “mainstreaming” is about persons with disabilities participating at all levels of society according to his/her choice without facing any barrier. In this column, therefore, we intend to bring to the fore some of the core challenges at both policy and programme levels. We will discuss various strategies that can be used to ensure thatpersons with disabilities are treated equally and fairly like any other citizen; they are able to enjoy their rights and give their opinions; and they are able to live with dignity in a society where there are no obstacles.


Your feedback, our readers, is tremendously valuable as we engage you in these debates.

Comments

  1. George Mwika KayangeJanuary 30, 2011 at 1:15 PM

    Your comments readers are welcome! George

    ReplyDelete
  2. Victor MaulidiJanuary 30, 2011 at 11:24 PM

    George,

    This is a good move. keep it up

    Victor

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownFebruary 28, 2011 at 7:47 AM

    I always do more and more extra activity and proved myself. I think each person have their own ability. So never underestimate any person.

    excessive sweating

    ReplyDelete

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