The government of Eswatini has inaugurated the National Advisory Council for Persons with Disabilities at Ekwetsembeni Special School in Mbabane.
Development Diaries reports that the country’s Deputy Prime Minister, Themba Masuku, inaugurated the council as Eswatini, in partnership with the United Nations, works to safeguard the well-being of persons with disability in the country.
Persons with disability in the country face a myriad of challenges including unemployment and lack of access to sexual reproductive health services.
In its Repository on Disability Rights in Africa, the Centre for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria noted that the prevalence of disability in Eswatini is higher than the average found in other developing countries, and the prevalence is much higher in rural areas.
Data from the 2017 Housing and Population Census in the country showed that persons with disability made 13 percent of the total Eswatini population estimated at 1,093 238.
It is understood that the UN, in partnership with the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office (DPMO), is currently implementing a two-year project funded through the United Nations Partnership for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD).
Speaking at the inauguration of the council, the Deputy Prime Minister said, ‘This also creates a positive platform for the country to look back, take stock and celebrate progress achieved over the years towards progressively addressing and redressing issues of persons with disabilities’.
Also speaking, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Eswatini, George Wachira, urged all stakeholders working on disability issues to adapt new ways to better the lives of all persons with disabilities in the country.
The enactment of the council is part of the UNPRPD project, which seeks to operationalise the Eswatini National Disability Act of 2018 by providing proper coordination and monitoring mechanisms for disability mainstreaming across all sectors and levels in Eswatini.
‘According to the UNPRPD Situation Analysis, women and girls with disabilities are at a higher risk to fall victim to sexual exploitation and rape due to their vulnerability and possibly reduced chance that perpetrators will be ever prosecuted’, Wachira said.
‘We have to harness technological advancements for the benefit of persons with disabilities. We can do more to acquire and adopt affordable assistive technologies to improve lives on persons with disabilities from pre-school, school and after school’.
Source: UN Eswatini
Photo source: UNDP