20 Oct 2013

The Minister for Presidential Affairs and Public Administration, Mr Mokgweetsi Masisi has called on Batswana to make concerted efforts to include people living with disability in everything that is being done. Mr Masisi said they should be included in household, community and national decision making as they too contribute a lot in the economy of the country.

Officiating during the commemoration of the International Day for Disaster Reduction held under the theme ‘A not so obvious conversation living with disability and disaster’ in Sefhare on October 17, he said disability, disaster and poverty were often inter-linked. The Minister further said the recent Botswana Core Welfare Indicators survey has revealed that there were 68 000 people living with disability and that it was important to remember that they were the most affected during disasters.

“This situation is mainly due to the lack of inclusion of people with disabilities and their representative within disaster risk reduction planning from community to national levels as well as within international framework,” Mr Masisi said. In most cases, he sad disability negatively affected economic statures of families, individuals and the community thus, government took such issues seriously.He also noted that efforts should be made to sensitise communities of their special needs during emergency situations.

He noted that the Ministry of State Presidency through the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) was working with international partners such as Swedish Civil Contingency Agency and International Organisation for Migration on issues of rick and vulnerability assessment with an emphasis on all inclusive planning process for the programs. He said NDMO was mandate to develop and coordinate the implementation of policies and programs aimed at empowering people with disabilities. Ends