Members of Parliament have been urged to enhance their communication strategies with persons with disabilities (PWDs) ahead of the national budget discussions. These sentiments were shared during a recently held meeting hosted by the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD). The meeting that was part of the Zimbabwe Alternative Mining Indaba ran under the theme Women’s Pre-National Budget Caucus.
Speaking at the meeting, disability inclusion practitioner Sukoluhle Mhlanga highlighted that the information disseminated by Parliament concerning budget consultations is not accessible to persons with disabilities.
”Information is not accessible in disability-friendly formats taking into consideration that we have the visually impaired, those who use braille, we also have the deaf community that uses sign language audios,” said Mhlanga. Mhlanga stated that although she is grateful that Zimbabwe has designated sign language as a national language, the government is still lagging in actual practice despite being good at putting legislation into place.
”So, when it comes to the budget process, especially the national budget process, there are no sign language interpreters. Information dissemination regarding where and when the budget consultation will be conducted is not disability friendly, so at the end of the day, we are left behind,” cited Mhlanga.
Mhlanga continued saying that PWDs’ concerns regarding the budget are frequently ignored and that it is time for people to realise that they too, can be people with disabilities. Mhlanga continued saying that PWDs concerns regarding the budget are frequently ignored and that it is time for people to realise that they too can be people with disabilities.
”The issue of venues, they are not accessible, especially in the sense that these consultations are always undertaken in towns; there are people that use wheelchairs that are in communities that we live in, they fail to access the venues so at the end of the day it’s a challenge,” explained Mhlanga.
”I look forward to a budget that is disability sensitive so that we try and enjoy our human rights. We will try and enjoy our citizenship regarding these budget issues,” concluded Mhlanga.
WRITTEN BY NOMAGUGU NDLOVU