ZADF News

Establishment of a National Disability Fund and Board

Pact's CSO partner, the National Association of Societies for Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH) is comprised of 53 organizational members, serving and representing the interests of 1.3 million Zimbabweans living with disabilities.

NASCOH's principal advocacy issue has been on establishing a National Disability Fund, managed by an independent Board. Following a series of NASCOH constituency-building and consultations in all Provinces, and well-organised sensitization meetings with key Parliamentarians, NASCOH has proven effective in its advocacy program. As reported in the official "Parliamentary Bulletin", Parliamentary leadership committed, at NASCOH's behest, to amend the Disabled Persons Act as requested.

And, Parliament delivered. For the year 2002 Budget, the National Disability Fund was established, and Government allocated ZWD$166 million (the equivalent of US$3 million) as initial capitalization for the fund. In turn, the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, in setting up the independent Board, appointed to the membership the persons (with full gender balance) recommended by NASCOH.

NASCOH Executive Director, Farai Mukuta, summed up their progress as follows:

"Two years may be short a time, but positive developments are emerging in our advocacy programme. There has been a lot of synergy between and among our secretariat and member organisations. There has been increased visibility of the organization to the extent that Government now meaningfully recognizes our existence by periodically consulting us on pertinent concerns of people with disabilities.

"The face to face contacts made to date in addition to pronouncements in both the print and electronic media by the secretariat, interviews and press statements, have paid dividends. I am proud and greatly appreciate the impact of meetings we had with various Parlilamentary Portfolio Committees and the Government departments directly linked to disability affairs.

"Thanks to ZADF/Pact and USAID for their advice and financial support. We feel the marriage between us has blossomed. People With Disaiblities are encouraged that the road ahead of us seems promising."

Minority Languages To Be Taught In School

Silveira House is a 30 year old NGO focusing on community-based and community-oriented approaches to development. Their work concentrates in high-density peri-urban areas and in rural areas of Zimbabwe. Their advocacy program supported by USAID/Zimbabwe and ZADF/Pact is at this point aimed at promotion of needs of persons living in informal settlements in areas surrounding Harare, in facilitating constructive use of wetlands in Wedza District (in Mashonaland East Province), and in securing national recognition and preservation of the indigenous languages for ethnic minority groups in Zimbabwe.

In their advocacy efforts concerning indigenous minority languages, Silveira House was instrumental in the establishment of the Zimbabwe Indigenous Languages Promotion Association (ZILPA), composed of Committees representing each of the minority languages, in predominantly rural areas. These languages are the mother tongue of some 394,000 persons in Zimbabwe: Tonga (105,000 persons), Shangaani (66,000), Kalanga (75,000 persons), Suthu (48,000 persons), Venda (52,000 persons), and Nambiya (48,000 persons). Promotion and preservation of these languages are seen by the affected persons as a key part of their social, cultural, economic and political development.

Through its advocacy efforts in association with ZILPA, Silveira House has mobilized strong community support which has been well communicated to relevant Parliamentary Portfolio Committees and the Ministry of Education. On April 9, 2002, the Ministry of Education announced a reversal of its earlier policy of non-recognition of the indigenous minority languages and proclaimed that effective immediately, these languages would be taught in the affected areas in primary schools, through Grade 7.

Upon receipt of news of this Governmental action, Silveira House communicated to ZADF/Pact that "thanks to the [advocacy] capacity building support given by ZADF/Pact and USAID, there is boundless joy among the communities wyho have long felt excluded and marginalized."

State Orders Price Cut In Sanitary Products

So reads the headline of an article in the May 18, 2002, edition of the independent Daily News in Zimbabwe.

The news story reported on a major, and practical, advocacy success by the Zimbabwe Womens Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN), a participating partner in the advocacy support program of USAID/Zimbabwe and ZADF/Pact.

ZWRCN is a service and networking organization that assists other organisations and community groups in addressing the causes and consequences of marginalization of women and girls in Zimbabwe. Among their advocacy issues are promoting transparency and efficiency in administration of the Government's controversial HIV/AIDS Levy Fund, and advocacy on gender specific dimensions and implications of the National Budget.

In recent months, ZWRCN took the leadership in seeking Government action to roll-back major price increases (largely due to tax policies) for tampons and sanitary pads. ZWRCN and colleague organizations such as the Federation of African Media Women in Zimbabwe (FAMWZ) mobilized public support and pressed Parliament to push for a reduction of the 50% import tax and 15% sales tax on sanitary products, to set a ceiling on the mark-up levels for these goods, and to establish a special foreign currency allocation to allow suppliers to purchase these products at the official exchange rate. The first major breakthrough in this advocacy effort came when a male member of Parliament (Saviour Masukuwere, MP, Mt. Darwin) chose to take up the cause in a speech that the Daily News story said "stunned" the Parliament by its embrace of a cause not previously the topic of public debate.

The Government's action in May to roll-back and establish a ceiling was a response to the ZWRCN campaign message that "some women who are unable to afford sanitary products will be forced to stay at home during their monthly cycle; this would be detrimental to our productivity."

The Daily News reporter contacted MP Kasukuwere, on news of the Government action, who commented: "Are you not happy yourself as a women that the prices for pads have been reduced? This is a woman thing and your should write how you feel about the price reduction."