14 Apr 2014

A member of the National Disability Coordinating Committee, Ms Thapelo Moalosi, has advocated for formulation of a tailor made poverty eradication programme for disabled people.

Addressing members of the Hukuntsi Sub-district Disability Coordinating Committee, Ms Moalosi said the one size fits all poverty eradication packages seemed not to benefit disabled people because they were not in line with some of their natural talents and capabilities.

Ms Moalosi said visually impaired people had a God-given talent to sing. Therefore, it would be ideal for government to come up with a poverty eradicating package that entitled the visually impaired to be fully empowered with a recording deals, considering the musical talent that many of them possessed.

She said disabled people were more vulnerable to poverty because they were more marginalised and did not benefit from other livelihood empowerment programmes. She said most empowerment programmes were not user friendly to people with disabilities as they were physically demanding.

She added that the disabled had also a limited accessibility to resources as government offices were also not made easily accessible for the disabled. As a result, she said, the relationship between disability and poverty was seen by many to be especially problematic given that it placed people with the greatest needs in a position where they had access to the fewest resources.

In many cases, she said, the manner in which government offices were constructed led society to deny the disabled access to avenues of success.
Ms Moalosi said it was important for the government architects to consider people with disability when planning office layout of government premises to enable them access of government policies.

She stated that there had been in the past a gross underestimation of the potential held by individuals with disabilities and a lack of awareness of the possible that each person may hold if the proper resources were present.

She called for a mind-set change towards people with disability. She underscored the need for investment in eliminating all the stereotypes associated with disability.

She also called for the establishment of disability committees in all districts to develop and coordinate the implementation of policies and programmes aimed at empowering disabled people. The committees would ensure that disability issues were mainstreamed into sectoral policies and programmes. Ends