Africa-Press – Botswana. Government is earnestly working towards enhancing living conditions for People With Disabilities (PWDs), Permanent Secretary in the Ministry for State President, Ms Goitsemang Morekisi has said.
Speaking during a two-day civil society organisations workshop in Gaborone Wednesday, she said in a milestone move, government had joined the international commitment by acceding to the convention on the rights of PLWD in 2021.
Also, Ms Morekisi said, government had consistently supported PWDs through the Ministries of Education, and Health, as well as the Office of the President. Elucidating the workshop’s purpose, she said it was meant to unite various stakeholders to engage in discussions aimed at enhancing the quality of life for PWDs.
Ms Morekisi urged stakeholders, who were at the helm of their respective PWD organisations, to ideally devise strategies to meet the demands of PWDs.
She also expressed her faith in these kind of forums saying they allowed attendees opportunity to air their views and help the government by offering potential solutions.
For her part, the Director of National Disability Coordinating Office, Ms Peggy Garebaitse said the Ministry for State President through her office was coordinating drafting of Botswana’s maiden report on progress made in implementing the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CRPD).
They expected to submit the report to the UN Committee on Rights of Persons with Disabilities next month.
She also said they had hosted several drafting sessions with the inter-ministerial working group inclusive of members of various government ministries from March 2023 to date.
“Progress status of this report is periodically shared with the inter-ministerial committee on conventions, treaties and protocols,” said Ms Garebaitse.
However, she said throughout the drafting of the convention report they had a challenge of information gaps, which was evidence of lack of disability mainstreaming.
She said the Disability Bill was at an advanced stage and expected to be tabled during the ongoing Parliament session.
The director of Mochudi Association for Visually Impaired children, Ms Tebatso Menyatso lauded government efforts towards CRPD.
However, she pointed out gaps needed closing, particularly delay in information dissemination.
She also expressed hope that policies would eventually be implemented. Botswana Association for the Blind and Partially Sighted (BABPS), Mr David Ranto expressed gratitude for progress made, but stressed there was still a long way to go.
Furthermore, he said, time had come for the disability grant to be made accessible to all.
Lastly, he underscored the need for a national PWD card containing individual’s photo for identity reference, which would aid in recognition and service provision.
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