Transforming lives

As a country that is spearheading the cause of access to assistive technologies for persons with disabilities at the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Pakistan does not seem to fit the bill at least domestically on that front. However, there is growing realisation that a wealth of measures need to be taken for the benefit of differently-abled persons in the country. In recent years, we have seen several programmes run for differently-abled persons. For now the scope of their success may appear to be limited but their impact is seen as potentially strong. The rickshaw project, like many other programmes, is promising as it offers members of the disabled population the chance to turn their lives around and change the way they are looked upon in Pakistani society. Six special handcontrolled rickshaws were handed to persons with disabilities. Mobility and livelihood can and do change lives.

On the international stage, Islamabad has charted a way forward for countries to take substantive measures in improving access to assistive technologies for those who require them.

Islamabad ought to order an employment audit of differently-abled persons to check and see how many of them are part of the workforce. Legislative measures can be used as a tool to coerce the public and the private sector to allocate jobs for the disabled. But we must remember that mere laws cannot overcome attitudinal barriers — ingrained as they are in a number of countries and societies. Much needs to be done in mainstreaming disability in all national, regional and global development discourses and programmes by setting clearly-defined goals. One of the best cues can be taken from the Sustainable Development Goals which are premised on the objective that no one will be left behind.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16^th, 2018.

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