Persons with disabilities

This week, I had the honour of escorting the keynote speaker of the Karachi Conference to the TV studio of our Centre for Excellence in Journalism at IBA’s City Campus.

Even though the building that houses our Centre — Aman Towers — is designed to facilitate people with disabilities, there were points where moving him was a challenge. This made me wonder about other buildings in Pakistan and the overall challenges disabled people face in their daily lives.

December 3 is marked as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs). It is about time we talked more about their problems.

In a study conducted last year by Aatik Arsh and Haider Darain, it was pointed out that in order to protect rights of PWDs and to make them functional members of society, our government must provide many constitutional and legal provisions.

The most important national policy in this regard is fixed job quota for PWDs in both the government and the private sector. In 1981, then president of Pakistan Zia-ul-Haq allocated 1% job quota for PWDs through an ordinance while in 1998, Prime minister Nawaz Sharif increased this to 2%. The present job quota for PWDs in all provinces of Pakistan is 2% except Punjab where the quota was raised to 3% in 2015.

A National policy for PWDs in 2002 clearly mentions that Pakistan has joined the select group of countries, which has not only ratified ILO Convention 159, but have also taken active legal steps to introduce legislation which lays down quota for the employment of persons with disabilities.

Even though several national policies exist regarding legal rights of PWDs in the country, PWDs are still deprived of their rights in Pakistan. They remain a marginalised part of society and they are almost always neglected and ignored in the community.

The main reason behind it is that these policies are only present in papers and never implemented. These policies are useless until and unless they are implemented with true spirit, argue the authors of this report.

Earlier, a report titled “Moving from the Margins — Mainstreaming Persons with Disabilities in Pakistan” recommended that Pakistan develop a comprehensive set of laws to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities in all aspects of living.

This includes laws that protect the rights of persons with disabilities about discrimination, education, employment, communication, infrastructure and transport, and civil rights.

It has also recommended the establishment of a lead government department to develop and monitor the implementation of policies that protect the rights of persons with disabilities. This should be available at both the federal and the provincial level.

But this is not only the responsibility of the government. It is imperative that there is an effective use of government and other stakeholder resources and funds for rehabilitation, health, education, and employment services. This can be done with proper strategy development and regular monitoring.

The report suggests that innovative community-based mechanisms can alleviate the burden on the government. There are successful examples in Pakistan, such as the Lady Health Worker Program and similar community-based mechanisms, which can help in building awareness, changing attitudes and driving change.

An interesting area is education. It is believed that special education promotes segregation, but inclusive education, where persons with disabilities are in the same classroom as mainstream students, makes educational services more accessible. Studies also show that this has a positive impact on costs and on changing attitudes. This requires changes in school infrastructure and investment in better teacher training.

Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs) need to work together to ensure a united front that communicates change from a rights-based approach. DPOs in Pakistan are sometimes still focused on a charity or medical approach, which are both important services, especially where the government falls short. But there needs to be better awareness of the need for broader change.

One important point is that persons with disabilities must be represented in the parliament. There are seats currently reserved for various minority groups, but not a single one for persons with disabilities. This will have an impact on policy development and changing society’s image of persons with disabilities.

We cannot afford to ignore millions of Pakistanis who are currently out of sight because of disability but who, if given a chance, could contribute significantly to the country. Let us try and fight for them.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 14^th, 2020.

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