Children with disabilities hone advocacy skills
Women’s Legal Resources Centre (Wolrec) has underscored the importance of providing an enabling environment for children with disabilities to express themselves.
Speaking on Saturday after a four-day advocacy and human rights training for girls with disabilities in Traditional Authority Kambwiri in Salima District, Wolrec programmes officer Meka Gausi said it was important to equip children with disabilities with advocacy skills.
She said children with disabilities continue to face limited access to decision-making spaces as well as stigma from communities.
“Equipping children with disabilities with advocacy skills will enable them to challenge stigma and access resources,” said Gausi.
Salima district social welfare officer Edgar Kasiyafumbu agreed with Gausi that such advocacy trainings are significant in empowering children with disabilities to assert themselves.
He said: “Human rights violations, especially perpetrated towards children with disabilities, should be condemned.
“The training, therefore, will help the children and their guardians to know where they can report cases of abuse towards children with disabilities.”
One of the participants, 13-year-old Zione Ndaona, said the training eqipped her with skills to fight for her rights, especially exclusion from activities in her community and in school due to her disability challenges.
“We are excluded from some school extra-curricular activities due to our disability,” she said.
With support from the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Wolrec is implementing a Civil Society Organisation Capacity (CSO) Strengthening Progamme aimed at creating strong CSOs that can demand and support children’s rights.
