12 Aug 2020

Government is in the process of ratifying the Convention of Persons with Disabilities, Vice President, Mr Slumber Tsogwane has told Parliament.

Although he could not speak with certainty as to when, he said consultations with various stakeholders were done upon completion of National Disability Framework, which was under internal consultation.

Mr Tsogwane said in 2018, a decision was taken to defer Botswana’s accession to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to allow for alignment of the National Disability Framework (NDF) with Draft Revised National Disability Policy, Draft National Disability Strategy and Draft National Disability Bill to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

He said the alignment would enable domestication of the convention and ease of policy implementation.

Furthermore, he said the assignment was delayed by financial constraints and lack of technical expertise, but noted that United Nations Development Programme assisted government accordingly.

He said the policy was being processed and that timelines for both policy and the bill would be determined by outcome of the internal consultations.

Regarding timeline for the presentation of the bill on the protection of People with Disabilities, Mr Tsogwane said the bill would be ready for presentation during the remaining part of NDP 11.

With regards to social protection programmes, which included disability, he said they had been earmarked for review during NDP11 to align them with the implementation of the National Social Protection Framework.

Mr Tsogwane also informed Parliament that not all schools had facilities to assist learners with eye sight and learning abilities.

Learners with minor eye sight problems and those who used spectacles, he said, were placed in ordinary mainstream schools.

He said learners with total blindness and severe low vision conditions were admitted in visual impairment units such as Phatlhogo Primary School in North East Region, Matsieng Primary School, Linchwe II JSS and Molefi Senior School in Kgatleng region.

Essentially, Mr Tsogwane said, it was important to note that learners with learning disabilities did not need specialised facilities to access education and that they were placed in ordinary mainstream schools and given necessary support and accommodation by heads of departments.

Furthermore, Mr Tsogwane said there were no plans to build accessible specialist District Based Facilities to assist people with disabilities, but noted that government was building a facility in Maun to cater for learners with severe and profound disabilities as well as multiple disabilities.

Parliament also learnt that total grants budgeted and disbursed for assisting non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working with people with disabilities in the last three financial years amounted to over P209.7million.

Mr Tsogwane was answering questions asked by Bobonong MP, Mr Taolo Lucas, who had asked when government intended to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of 2006.

He wanted to know the reasons for delay, timelines for presentation of the Revised Policy on Care for People with Disabilities to Parliament.

Mr Lucas wanted Vice President to state the timelines for presenting the bill on the protection of PLWDs and wanted to know if there were plans to review upward the disability allowance to align it to cost of living in the country.

Mr Lucas had also asked  whether all schools in Botswana had the necessary facilities to assist learners with eye sight and learning disabilities and if there were plans to build an accessible specialist district based facilities which would assist PLWDs.

He had also asked about the total grants budgeted for assisting NGOs working with PLWDs and the amount of money that was disbursed in the last three years. ENDS