Capacitating the state to better deliver services for persons with disabilities
Last year, The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with National School of Government to facilitate training for government and non-governmental officials on Disability inclusion. This week, 6-8 February 2023, an inception training workshop, funded by the UNFPA, a three-day workshop was held covering the concepts of equality, disability inclusiveness, frameworks, planning and budgeting policy, legislation and frameworks, planning and budgeting, monitoring and evaluation, universal design and access, reasonable accommodation and self-representation at work.
The workshop, held in Pretoria, hosted Government officials from planning, finance and other key strategic areas of government from all nine provinces, representative of National, Provincial and local levels. This capacity-building workshop formed part of the commitments made by Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, during Disability Rights Awareness Month 2022.
This activity formed part of the department’s 365-Day Campaign towards disability awareness, and to break negative attitudes towards disability. This is in keeping with the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (WPRPD 2015:49) Pillar 1 – Removing Barriers to Access and Participation, which states as follows:
The creation of barrier-free environments requires collective and concurrent action by law and policy makers, service providers, regulatory bodies, the private sector as well as organisations of and for persons with disabilities.
Accessibility lies at the heart of the right to human dignity – being able to live as an equal resident in one’s community, being accorded respect for your personal space, having the right to equal opportunities and negotiating one’s life unhindered by manmade barriers.
The White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2015) focuses on the following six dimensions in order to remove barriers to access and participation:
- Changing attitudes and behaviour;
- Access to the built environment;
- Access to transport;
- Access to information and communication;
- Universal design and access; and
- Reasonable accommodation measures.
The theme for DRAM 2022 was: “Empowering Persons with Disabilities through resourceful, sustainable and safe environments”. Government has a responsibility to ensure that officials are capacitated to be able to better serve persons with disabilities, particularly in areas of planning and budget allocation.
The workshop forms part of an ongoing relationship with The National School of Government (NSG) to ensure that officials have the required skills to meet the mandate of the department in ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all spheres of life.
Mr Shalen Gajadhar (Director: Communications, Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities) 060 979 4235
For media engagements with Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane contact Ms Xolelwa Siya Dwesini on Xolelwa.Dwesini@dwypd.gov.za (081 030 9109)
