Union of the Blind demands improved access to braille

Malawi Union of the Blind yesterday joined the global community in observing the World Braille Day with a call for government to commit to improving access to braille for the visually impaired citizens.

The union’s executive director Ezekiel Kumwenda said in a statement that despite obligations arising from international and national law, many blind people lack access to braille.

He said the access should be through both within the education system and beyond.

Kumwenda said: “This simple system of combining six raised dots into different patterns enables braille users to read not only books, but music notation and mathematical formulas and they get empowered through knowledge.

“While the day will always be for celebration, it must also remain a call to action until visually impaired people across the world have full access to this life-changing tool.”

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) outlines obligations for countries that ratified the convention.

Article 21 of the CRPD requires member States to ensure that information intended for the general public is in accessible formats such as braille, and article 24 requires that in the education system, students who are visually impaired receive their education in the modes that are most appropriate to their needs, such as braille from educators who are fluent in braille.

According to Kumwenda, Malawi needs to take a step to improve access to braille by facilitating the cross-border sharing of braille materials, “which means visually impaired people in countries with limited access to braille can gain the ability to read braille materials produced in countries with larger braille libraries.”

But Ministry of Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare spokesperson Fred Simwaka said the issue of ensuring the availability of braille materials among the visually impaired is twofolds as it falls in two different ministries.

Each year on January 4, the global blind community comes together to celebrate Louis Braille, the inventor of the braille writing system, along with the system he invented, which has changed the lives of blind people throughout the world.