Mobile report:Crippled woman becomes creative

Salma Said, VoicesofAfrica mobile reporter in Zanzibar, Tanzania

It is estimated that about 650 million people in the world live with disabilities, and frequently encounter a myriad of physical and social obstacles. They often lack the opportunities of the mainstream population and are usually among the most marginalized in society.

Women face barriers to full equality and advancement because of such factors as race, age, language, ethnicity, culture, religion or disability. Persistence of certain cultural, legal and institutional barriers makes women and girls with disabilities the victims of two-fold discrimination: as women and as persons with disabilities.

Girls and women of all ages with any form of disability are among the more vulnerable and marginalized of society. There is therefore need to take into account and to address their concerns in all policy-making and programming at all levels in the society. Special measures are needed at all levels to integrate them into the mainstream of development.

Often, women with disabilities are invisible both among those promoting the rights of persons with disabilities, and those promoting gender equality and the advancement of women.

Ms Amina Abdallah Said, born in 1971, in Zanzibar islands is an example of a women living disability. She is a disabled crippled mother of two children who had stayed in-door for 25 years, shying to be seen in public. But she has now come to life after a business organization helped the disabled to change her life in a village in Zanzibar Islands.

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The interesting story of Amina who in the past was even shy to socialize with others, explains that disabled people should not be ignored because they are part of the society and have the ability to contribute to development of the country.

According to Ms Salma Saadat, an official from the Zanzibar Association of People with Disabilities, crippled Amina who had never gone to school has successfully trained to become an entrepreneur making baskets using local materials.

Zanzibar has more than 6,000 people living with disabilities, the majority from poor families who needs support to provide a glimpse of the ‘inclusive world of creativity’ particularly focusing women with disabilities. Home-based programmes or projects such as handcrafts could enable employment in homes for the disabled such as Amina.

Like Amina women with disabilities face significant barriers in accessing adequate housing and services. People with disabilities in general face difficulties in entering the open labour market, but, seen from a gender perspective, men with disabilities are almost twice more likely to have jobs than women with disabilities.

The rights of persons with disabilities are grounded in a broad human rights framework based on the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, international covenants on human rights and other human rights instruments. On 13 December 2006, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol to the Convention entered into force on 3 May 2008.

The Convention contains an article on women with disabilities, as well as several references to girls, women, and gender issues. All the arguments adduced in favors of women’s full participation in the various spheres of cultural, political, economic life, are doubly applicable to disabled women, not only regarding equal rights, but also with respect to the negative consequences for society in general of neglecting any human resource. Amina’s life has changed dramatically and she now mixes freely in the society.