Disability Office introduces new data system
Lack of updated statistics on people with disabilities in Botswana has been one of the biggest challenges of the Disability Office in the Office of the President. According to the Coordinator of the National Disability Policy and Mainstreaming Strategy Thomas Motingwa, the office now aims to have a sophisticated disability database and system that will not only be able to show the number of people with disabilities in different parts of the country, but also who they are, and the level and nature of their disabilities. The system according to Motingwa will be launched in the-not-so distant future in all districts of Botswana, funds permitting. Motingwa said they have employed several instruments that help them to get statistics across the country. “We use what is at our disposal to get statistics across the country, for example through social workers in districts and the kgotla system in different areas,” he said. Currently, the office relies on a simple data management system. Meanwhile, the World Report on Disability estimates that there are 59 103 people with disabilities in Botswana, representing a 2.9 percent of the population. Among current activities of the Disability Office is to include people with disabilities in programmes and development plans and ensure their participation in policies and laws that particularly affect them, and ensure that all impairments are catered for in these instruments. One other challenge is that employment does not come easy for people with disabilities, even for the qualified. So far, more than 90 people with disabilities are said to be employed by government though affirmative action, and others by the private sector. One such beneficiary is Kefilwe Msiwurimwa, a married woman with two children. She first encountered the Disability Office in 2010, and it became instrumental in her enrolling for the internship programme in the department of immigration. In 2013, Msiwurimwa was offered permanent employment in the Ministry of Transport and Communication, and is currently employed as a Programmer in IT in the Ministry of Basic Education. Msiwurimwa who is married to a visually impaired man lauds efforts of the Disability Office for also helping her to secure a residential plot. “The Disability Office transformed my life. My family now lives in a decent house and lives well,” Msiwurimwa said. The Disability Office, which is mandated to develop, coordinate the implementation of all policies, programmes and strategies aimed at empowering people with disabilities, as well as to monitor and evaluate them is also faced with challenges of housing, transport and training. The Office has however, through affirmative action been able to facilitate tertiary education opportunities for students with disabilities who obtained lower points than the recommended 36 points. “Through affirmative action we have been able to augment affected students’ points by five points for them to qualify for sponsorship,” Motingwa said. He said that upon completion of their studies, students with disabilities are assisted to find employment without having to queue with their peers. The office also through affirmative action ensures that people with disabilities don’t queue for land allocation, either residential or farm land. “We provide a covering letter to the concerned land authority for applicants with disabilities to be assisted quickly.”The office is also instrumental in ensuring that people with disabilities have access to medication, and medical equipment including wheel chairs and hearing aides and other assisting devices. Motingwa hopes that accessibility to infrastructure and buildings in schools and public areas will be made easier after amendments in the Building Control Code. The Disability Office is pleased that disability is increasingly being viewed as a human rights issue, rather than health and welfare like in the past. “People with disabilities are no longer an object of charity,” Motingwa said, adding that they are working hard to ensure that all barriers to their progress are removed.