By Cathy Maulidi
Fount for Nations, for promotes the rights of people with disability, has asked Parliament to consider giving persons with disability a share in Constituency Development Fund (CDF).
Advocacy and Communications officer for the organisation Connex Kafera made the call at Parliament Building over the weekend after engaging Speaker of Parliament Catherine Gotani Hara as part of activities marking Disability Awareness Month.
“We are celebrating and commemorating Disability Awareness Month and, as such, we thought it wise to celebrate together with Parliament so that persons with disability could have a chance to interact with the Speaker and members of the Social and Community Develoment Committee.
“One of the things we have asked for is that the Speaker and members [of Parliament] should consider giving persons with disability a share in CDF,” Kafera said.
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Kafera claimed that CDF does not benefit persons with disability, observing that school and other public infrastructure continue to be disability unfriendly.
“When lawmakers and local councils are implementing development initiatives under CDF, they don’t consider persons with disability because they feel that they [persons with disability] are not in majority. We want persons with disability to benefit from this fund, hence asking for a special share that would cover special school materials for us and many other things,” he said.
Responding on the concerns raised, Speaker Catherine Gotani Hara acknowledged that persons with disability are facing challenges.
She, said, for example, that some children with disability have been dropping out of school due to unconducive learning environments.
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“We have got quite a huge number of children with disability but because of lack of special needs teachers, lack of special learning materials, resources and unconducive learning environments, many are dropping out of school. So, we, as members of Parliament, really need to look into these issues.
“They have specifically raised the issue of special share in CDF and I have referred them to the Social and Community Development Committee, which can deliberate on the issue and, later, bring it to Parliament for discussion by the whole House,” Gotani Hara said.
The theme for 2023 International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is ‘United in Action to Rescue and Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for, with and by Persons with Disabilities’.
IDPD is a United Nations day that is commemorated on December 3. However, Malawi commemorated the day on December 8.
