disABILITY FOCUS

Just like many other international legal instruments, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has general principles that govern its implementation. The principles are outlined as follows: inherent dignity; individual autonomy; discrimination; equality; participation and inclusion; and respect for difference . These general principles are at the core of the Convention and are central to monitoring the rights of persons with disabilities. The principle of inherent dignity refers to the worth of every person. When the dignity of persons with disabilities is respected, their experiences and opinions are valued and are formed without fear of physical, psychological or emotional harm. Respect for dignity is denied when, for example, workers who are blind are forced by their employer to wear a shirt with the word “blind” printed on the back. The principle of individual autonomy means to be in charge of one’s own life and to have the freedom to make one’s own choice

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the response of the international community to the long history of discrimination, exclusion and dehumanization of persons with disabilities. It is historic and groundbreaking in many ways, being the fastest negotiated human rights treaty ever and the first of the twenty-first century. The Convention is the result of three years of negotiations involving civil society, Governments, national human rights institutions and international organizations. After adopting the Convention in the United Nations General Assembly in December 2006, a record number of countries demonstrated their commitment to respecting the rights of persons with disabilities by signing the Convention and Optional Protocol when they opened for signature in March 2007. The Convention is long overdue. It is over 25 years since the 1981 International Year of Disabled Persons brought global attention to the issues affecting persons with disabilities. The Con

How do different cultural communities and religious faith explain and respond to disability? “Universally, societies have explanations for why some individuals (and not others) are disabled, how individuals with disabilities are to be treated, what roles are appropriate (and inappropriate) for such individuals and what rights and responsibilities individuals with disability are either entitled to or denied” (Scheer and Groce, 1988). In many countries, having a disability is attributed to having sinned or offended the spirits. This might have occurred through sins committed by ancestors or by the person with the disability themselves in this or a previous life. The idea that disabilities can be “caught” is quite common across the world. This results mostly in actions to protect pregnant women from seeing, hearing or touching people with disability or even their technical aids. Examples of this explanation of disability can be found all over the world, including even the United States

Generally, the majority of the persons with disabilities continue to face problems in terms of access to public services as well as to various forms of opportunities, including education, information, employment, just to mention a few. Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) in Malawi are doing everything possible to advocate for increased rights of persons with disabilities so that they are able to enjoy their rights and meaningfully participate in mainstream social life, and live with dignity in a society where there are no barriers. However, the main stumbling block remains the societal attitude originating from our deep-rooted religious and cultural norms and beliefs. Culture and religion have been used as weapons (often sub-consciously) since time immemorial to violate the rights of women, children, persons with disabilities, and many other vulnerable groups. And the sad thing is that such violations are still being perpetrated in the name of culture and religion even today. But b

In 2000, more than 1000 participants from 164 countries gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for the World Education FOCUS where the participants – ranging from teachers to prime ministers, academics to policymakers, non-governmental bodies to the heads of major international organisations – adopted the 2000-word “Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All [EFA].” One of the six EFA goals that were agreed upon is the expansion and improvement of comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Achieving the right to education for persons with disabilities in basic education is a challenging task, but entirely necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of education for all by the target date of 2015, according to the EFA Flagship document entitled, “The Right to Education for Persons with Disabilities: Towards Inclusion”. Yet ten years down the line, many children with disabilities are still going through tormenting