Division of Disability Affairs and Marginalized Communities - MGEPESW

DIVISION OF DISABILITY AFFAIRS AND MARGINALIZED COMMUNITIES

DISABILITY AFFAIRS

The Division Disability Affairs advocates and promotes the human rights issues related to Persons with Disabilities in order to improve their quality of life, enhance their dignity, well-being and empower them as well as strengthens the implementation of the National Disability Act and other regional and international instruments that relate to disability, such as United Nation Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

SERVICES

Advocacy and awareness raising - promotion of human rights issues related to Persons with Disabilities through disability mainstreaming.

Educational Support Programme - Provide Financial Support to Students with Disabilities at tertiary level – covering individual needs of such students such as tuition, accommodation, Sign Language Interpreters, and Assistive Devices amongst others to enable them to participate on par with able –bodied students.

Case Management aimed at accessing Persons with Disabilities to different Services through identification, referral, issuing of recommendation letters.

Individual Support Programme - Provide basic necessities to Persons with severe Disabilities who are in dire need of sanitary pads and nappies, sanitation, accommodation, accessible transport, income generating projects/opportunities, accessible home environment, support toilets, portable shower.

Oversee/Facilitate Policy and Legal Framework: International Conventions, Instruments and Protocols related to rights of Persons with Disability; National Disability Council Act and Policy, Disability Mainstreaming Plan:

• National Policy on Disability (1997)
• National Disability Council Act, 26, 2004
• Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Africa
• UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

Support to Organizations of Persons with Disability- provide technical support

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MARGINALISED COMMUNITIES

The Division advocates and promotes the rights issues of Marginalized Communities (San, Ovatue and Ovatjimba Communities) with focus on integrating and socio-economic mainstreaming in the society in line with National, Regional and International instruments that relate to the rights of Indigenous Peoples/Marginalized Communities.

SERVICES

Advocacy and promotion of human rights issues related to Marginalized Communities in line with International Conventions and Instruments and Protocols:

• United Nations Declarations on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP)
• International Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD),
• Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).

Educational Support Programme: Render Education, Financial and Transport assistance to learners and Students. The programme aimed at providing financial, moral, and psychosocial support to learners and students emanating from the Marginalized Communities at all education levels, Early Childhood Development, primary, secondary, and tertiary education.

Livelihood Support Programmes:

• Special Feeding Programme was initiated to provide healthy food supplements to the San people inclusive of the Ovatue and Ovatjimba communities considering their socio economic and impoverishment levels. It was introduced as the San Feeding Programme during the inception of the San Development Programme at the Office of the Prime Minister then.
• Burial Services’ purpose is to provide funeral assistance to Marginalized Communities (San, Ovatue and Ovatjimba) to ensure that they are accorded a respectable and dignified burial.
• Livelihood Empowerment Projects are initiated with the aim to empower, improve, supplement, and sustain the Marginalized Communities’ livelihoods through income generating projects and other activities.
• Land Re-distribution: Access to Land and Housing Projects aim at facilitating the acquisition and redistribution of land to Marginalized Communities both in Commercial and Communal areas. It also aims to ensure that the Marginalized Communities are provided with and access to basic needs such as decent shelter, potable water and sanitation facilities in all the regions they reside.

Oversee/Facilitate Policy and legal framework:

Draft Policy document (White Paper) on the Rights of the Indigenous People.