Disability mainstreaming a national imperative: OBF ahead of awareness conf
The Oppie Bol Foundation will host its first National Disability Awareness conference in hopes of addressing poverty, unemployment, and inequality related to people living with disabilities in South Africa.
Oppie Bol Foundation's Cazle Hendricks (right) at the foundation's disability awareness event. Picture: Facebook
JOHANNESBURG - The Oppie Bol Foundation (OBF) said the country needs to prioritise disability mainstreaming in order to address barriers that exclude people with disabilities from enjoying equal human rights.
The foundation's Cazle Hendricks spoke to Eyewitness News ahead of their inaugural National Disability Awareness Conference to be held later this month.
The Foundation said the objective of the conference is to develop a common vocabulary and understanding of how disability mainstreaming could be better harnessed in reducing poverty, unemployment, and inequality in South Africa.
“Disability mainstreaming is both a national and global imperative. Discrimination of persons with disabilities in socioeconomic and political spaces poses cardinal challenges to modern countries subscribing to the principles of fairness,” said Hendricks.
Hendricks said the foundation hopes to provide a platform where various stakeholders including government, civil society, business, and the academic community can exchange information on the current developments, applications, and opportunities around disability.
This would help drive the achievement of Agenda 2030 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Current barriers include a lack of accessible transport to reach the workplace, a lack of skills training specific to different disabilities, and a myriad of infrastructure issues.
"There is no visible monitoring of the Employment Equity Act, and deliberate avoidance in some quarters to employ disabled. There is also limited access to information on disability, physical access in public places, there attitudinal barriers, and so much more,” added Hendricks.
According to Stats SA, the national disability prevalence rate is 7.5% in South Africa with persons with disabilities experiencing difficulty in accessing education and employment opportunities.
Households headed by persons with disabilities were found to have less access to basic services compared to households headed by persons without disabilities.
“Disability awareness seeks to promote an understanding of disability issues and the gains which are to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities. It also provides an opportunity to achieve the goal of full and equal enjoyment of human rights and participation in society,” said Hendricks.
OBF said they are intentional about driving awareness so that society gains more knowledge about the needs of people with disabilities. This they hope will in turn improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.
“This includes online awareness and educational social media marketing. Not only that but inviting people with invisible disabilities to the various disability awareness drives. We also use sporting events to promote the physical and mental abilities of our constituency through competitive sports and physical activities."
OBF has partnered with Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Tshwane metro for the upcoming conference.