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Disability

 

This is the second year of our three year programme. A lot of ground has been covered in the area of capacity building for Disabled People Organisations (DPOs). The DPOs have become more conversant on the key objectives of the programme, thus issues of capacity building (training) have been addressed in a more vigorous way with commitment from all partners involved. We have also been able to pause and reflect on the impact of the previous grassroots training conducted in order to address obvious gaps. Some of the work initiated this fiscal year will bear fruit in the year 2001/2002.

Objectives

The whole programme is aimed at capacity building for national, regional (districts) and grassroots DPOs in the following key objectives:

• Empowering DPOs with skills and strategies in carrying out effective advocacy initiatives at national and grassroots levels.
• Providing an opportunity for DPOs to be developed in leadership and governance issues.
• Promoting inclusive education in partnership with all relevant stakeholders.
• Developing focal points for networking and coordination.
• Providing assisting devices to people with disabilities, in particular, children at school-going age.

When one analyses achievements of this year against the set objectives, it is apparent that there has been great emphasis on issues of leadership and governance of DPOs. Some encouraging work has also been accomplished against the other objectives mentioned above.

Leadership Training

A major milestone was realised when an extensive training on Strategic Planning and Resource Mobilisation for executives of all the five national DPOs in Swaziland took place. The uniqueness of the workshop was marked by the presence of a renowned facilitator Mr. A. K. Dube of Samaita Associates based in South Africa. What is particular about Mr. Dube is his immense experience in disability work, particularly in the Southern Africa, and the fact that he has a disability himself, which however, does not impede his capabilities.

Associations represented were as follows:

• Swaziland National Association of the Deaf (SNAD)
• Swaziland National Association of the Physically Disabled Persons (SNAPDPe)
• Swaziland Association of the Visually Impaired Persons (SAVIP)
• Federation Organisation of Persons with Disabilities in Swaziland (FODSWA)
• Parents of Children with Disabilities in Swaziland (PCDSWA)

There were also five CB-DPOs represented from Sithobela, Mankayane, Ntontozi, Mkhulamini and Nhlangano.

Key Objective

The overall objective of the training was to capacitate the leaders of the Disabled Peoples Organisations with Leadership, Planning and Resource Mobilisation skills.

 

Workshop Output

1. The Swaziland Association of the Visually Impaired Person (SAVIP) designed two three-year programmes, namely; SAVIP Economic Empowerment and Development Programme (SSED) and the SAVIP Integrated Development Programme (SIDP). The programmes are aimed at generating employment opportunities for the visually impaired and combating the spread of HIV/AIDS respectively.
2. The Swaziland National Association of the Physically Disabled People (SNAPDPe) produced a five-year Poverty Alleviation Programme (PAP) solely to create employment opportunities for members of the association.
3. Swaziland National Association of the Deaf (SNAD) came up with a Development in Silence with Hands (DISH) Programme aimed at improving the quality of life for deaf people in Swaziland.
4. Parents of Children with Disabilities in Swaziland (PCDSWA) designed two advocacy programmes. The first is Parents Advocating for the Rights and Transformation (PART), while the second is Integrated Development and Advocacy Programme (IDAP).
5. Federation of the Disabled in Swaziland (FODSWA) worked very hard in producing four programmes to benefit all her affiliates. The programmes are as follows:

Apart from the strategic planning and resource mobilsation workshop we also had some group development and business management training for CB-DPOs. The CB-DPOs that were trained a year ago underwent an impact assessment, which informed us of prevailing gaps that we are toi address in the year 2001/2002.

On another note, through the strategic planning and resource mobilisation workshop DPOs managed to table issues affecting them in the presence of the Hon. Minister of Health and Social Welfare in their graduation ceremony on behalf of the right Hon. Prime Minister. One major issue tabled before the Hon Minister was that of formulating a disability policy in Swaziland. Other issues highlighted were those of access to education, access to employment opportunities, and access to user-friendly health services as well as access to public buildings. During the ceremony, government took the opportunity to announce the setting up of a disability desk by April 1, 2001, which has been a long awaited request by the DPOs.

Inclusive Education

We have continued to work with schools and parents to promote the concept pf inclusive education. In a number of cases we have learned that assistive devices are a barrier to some poor children with disabilities. Consequently, we have supported children who need these devices in order to be included into the mainstream education.

Children supported with wheelchairs were 12 (twelve) while those supported with white canes were 30 (thirty). In order to demonstrate the feasibility of inclusion in Swaziland, we have had to further support these children with school fees, otherwise assistive devices alone would not have helped them access education. We went beyond just provision of assistive devices and school fees to addressing negative attitudes towards children with disabilities in different forums. This is done collaboratively with a number of partners such as DPOs, a committee of Parents of Children with Disabilities, Special Education Unit (Ministry of Education), Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and many more.

Challenges

The programme has had a few challenges compared to the previous year. One of the challenges has been measuring the impact of previous training provided to grassroots groups. This was attributed by the lack of clearly defined indicators for the number of trainings provided. We have also had to work very hard to educate some of our partners and the public about our major trust of the programme visa-vi provision of rehabilitation services at community level. Very serious poverty among families of children with disabilities has made it very difficult for these children to afford educational fees.

Future Plans

• The programme will continue to monitor and support CB-DPOs in an effort to build on previous training exercises conducted.
• Work closely with all DPOs in following up mobilisation of resources to support their programmes.
• Facilitate regional study tours for DPOs to enhance formation og networks at regional level.
• Promote the use of hi-tech adaptive computers through training of visually impaired persons.
• Support the formulation of a draft Disability Policy for Swaziland.
• Through our HIV/AIDS Programme we shall endeavour to educate marginalised groups i.e., persons with special communication needs such as circulating brailed HIV/AIDS information packs, ensuring that sign language is used and a selection of accessible venues for training.
• Support some research initiatives in the area of discrimination.