BUJUMBURA February 8th (ABP) – The socio-economic empowerment of disabled women like any other non-disabled woman is essential at a time when women are at the heart of family balances, and play a major role in health, development and education, according to Mrs. Solange Nisabwe, leader of the Burundian association for the promotion of the rights of women with disabilities (ABPDFH), during an interview she gave to a check by ABP on Friday February 4, 2022.
According to Mrs. Nisabwe, despite the step already taken by the woman living with disability by participating in income-generating activities and that she is able and ready to contribute to the development of the country and not only to benefit from the work of others, there are many factors that hinder the development of its socio-economic empowerment of disabled women.
According to her, women living with disabilities are for the most part in precarious financial situations, and have little financial autonomy and even frequently live in situations of survival. She also added that the majority of the latter are poorly trained, poorly qualified and have an unemployment rate twice as high as that of other people who do not have a disability.
When participating in development or income-generating activities in various sectors, including trade, agriculture, livestock and others, disabled persons, including women, due to their reduced mobility, are unable to move themselves, their goods, manure or other things they need to carry out their activities well.
Mrs. Nisabwe explains that they have to pay transport and taxes each time they arrive at their point of sale, which results in losses.
She also mentioned that women and girls with disabilities are exposed to all kinds of violence including physical, economic, and gender-based sexual violence, also explaining that women and girls with disabilities are victims of their physical or economic weakness. and suffer consequences related to this violence being alone because some do not have access to information due to their disability. She gave the example of deaf-mute women, blind women and others.
The president of the association (ABPDFH), which campaigns for the rights of disabled women, took that opportunity to plead against the imposition of taxes on people with disabilities, including women living with disabilities. She asked the State to help disabled people to have means of transport including crutches and other devices they need at low prices, arguing that the devices that people living with disabilities need are very expensive compared to the means at their disposal.
For those who have a job, it asks the civil service mutual fund to take care of them, taking into account their specific needs. The representative of ABPDFH called for the inclusion of disabled people, including women, in all government development projects and programs, saying that the latter are discriminated against. She also pleaded for the establishment of a law protecting and favoring the disabled people.
According to Mrs. Nisabwe, women living with disabilities need education in health and reproduction, and appropriate technical and vocational training within the framework of the mainstream system, in order to make them acquire knowledge, technical and professional skills to prepare them for active life and their socio-economic integration.
She also invited international organizations working in Burundi to also intervene in the field of people living with disabilities and to support local associations working in this field to achieve inclusive development, explaining that after the departure of international handicap, it no other organization has continued to work in that area. She also pointed out that the development of the economic empowerment of disabled women will allow the eradication of poverty, inclusive economic growth, and the fight against the phenomenon of begging which occurs among the disabled persons.