NCDPZ pushes for inclusive budgeting for persons w...

NCDPZ pushes for inclusive budgeting for persons with disabilities

Zim Now Writer

The National Council of Disabled Persons of Zimbabwe (NCDPZ) said there is need for inclusive budgeting for people with disability in education, access to reproductive health and infrastructure development.

NCDPZ said there is need for policies that are packaged to involve persons with disabilities in development, infrastructure and education.

Speaking to ZimNow, NCDPZ Development Officer Simbarashe Mukanganise said there is lack of financial support for people with disabilities in education, access to information and development, and reproductive health.

“There is need to bridge the gap in systems in terms of implementing policies that include people with disabilities.

“As an organisation, we have embarked on several programmes to sensitise the community on the need to include people with disabilities, including education, access to information and access to reproductive health.

“We are training health workers and teachers on how to work with people with disabilities in order for them to get quality education and reproductive health for young women.

“Most schools do not have quality education for children with disabilities as most of them spend the whole day playing without being educated properly,” Mukanganise said.

He also said the organisation has been working with parents to de-mystify beliefs around education and children with disabilities as most parents were not sending their children to school as they considered it unimportant.

Special needs schools are expensive and most parents do not afford the fees and financial support programmes in most schools do not include people with disabilities.

“We should build the right attitude, culture and move away from the charity model of viewing people with disabilities, we should see a human being first, then disability last,” Mukanganise said.