14 Mar 2016

The regional executive member of Southern African Federation (BOFOD) of the Disabled Mr Neiso Modise has called for a legislative system sensitive to the needs of PWDs.

He said they were advocating for the submission of the disability policy that had long been drafted in 1994 to be tabled in the current sitting of Parliament.

Mr Modise said this when presenting on a regional perspective on disability, HIV/AIDS, at the commemoration of the Month of Youth Against AIDS (MAYA) through a workshop, dubbed Disability, HIV/AIDS Workshop, which was conducted by University of Botswana recently.

“The policy is expected to be passed this time. It is discouraging that Botswana has not ratified the convention of the persons living with disability. It is time to have a clear explicit and a very clear legislation which  covers a person living with disability,” he noted.

Mr Modise said BOFOD at regional level coordinated the issues and policies of the 10 different federations of the Southern African Development Community countries, to push through and advocate on issues of HIV and disability.

“Our Mandate is very broad, but we have deliberately set up a SAFOD research project, which looks at various issues with regard to HIV issues affecting the disabled. We then take such issues and articulate them with the relevant government and other regional bodies such as SADC and African Union ,” he stated.

He pointed out that people with disability were faced with major challenges, such as inability by the partially sighted individuals to use condoms, adding that for such a person it was even difficult for them to check the expiry dates.

“We need to train and make use of the available technology to make it easier for people living with disability to access services, such as braille, which only a few can be able to access,” he said.

He said there were many job advertisements made and study placements advertised, which people with disability were unable to access as the current system has left them out and neglected them, which therefore makes it difficult for them to find jobs.

“Let the system be inclusive so that we can all have equal access to opportunities,” he said.

For his part, while giving the objectives of the workshop, the general secretary for the Botswana Federation for the Disabled, Mr Thuso Rasetapa said their objective was to find out how programmes and services for the people with disability  can incorporate HIV issues.

“There are programmes such as Prevention of Mother to Child Transmission and Safe Male Circumcision so the question is how do we link them,” he said.

He said there was need to form an association that could advocate for people living with diasability focusing on   issues of HIV/AIDS.

“The disabled are prone to HIV/AIDS as they cannot communicate effectively with the police and court of laws. There is need for them to be taught on such issues so that they can be aware of risks associated with them,” he said. ENDS