In The Rights of the Disabled: Role of Disabled Themselves

- By Sudarshan Subedi

It is said that rights should be seized, not begged for. The question of rights being presented here is that of the rights of those with disability. Programmes meant for the benefit of the disabled were initiated in Nepal by the government and non-government sectors as far as 42 years back. But some four decades later disabled individuals remain second class citizens. There has been no change in the way the state, the market place and civil society look at them.

The legal system is the main basis for the protection of the rights of marginalized classes in any nation. Legal mechanisms for the rights and empowerment of the disabled existed in Nepal before the United Nations evidentiary rules concerning the generalization of opportunities came into being. The Constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 also has provisions under which the state can make special legal arrangements for the benefit of the disabled. The other main legal arrangements are the Disabled Protection and Welfare Act 2039 (1982/83), the Disabled Protection and Welfare Regulations 2051 (1994/95), the Education Act 2028 (1971/72) and Regulations 2049 (1992/ 93) and 2050 (1993/94) (Seventh Amendment), and the Civil Code.

The arrangements made under these laws have given emphasis to education, health, employment, physical access, community
rehabilitation programs, free transport, a house for disabled, access to communications, etc. Apart from this, special
emphasis has been given to the Disabled Service National Plan of Action 2060 (2003/04). The 10th plan formulated under the
strategy paper on poverty alleviation gives special emphasis to expanded access, amendment of the law, inclusive programmes
and mainstreaming.

These legal provisions remain limited to paper and have not translated into reality. Whatever provisions have been made for
the disabled have not been made mandatory. Because of that the state is not compelled to see to their implementation. According to the principles of legal interpretation the state can implement them or not implement them. That is because there is no wording to the effect that such provisions can be implemented under all circumstances.

Another tragic circumstance is that organizations which are active in this field are more active in welfare work than over matters of rights and as a result, the voices of those with disability have not received due priority. NGO's working for human rights and even the human rights commission have not so far been able to give attention to the question of the rights of the disabled let alone take them up with any sense of priority.

When talking about the rights of disabled in Nepal, what we find is that disabled individuals have not even been able to become citizens. One finds instances of family members not making out the citizenship papers of disabled offspring, not registering their births, all for grabbing paternal property. Similarly, when it comes to crime in society, disabled women also fall victims to crime against women. There are numerous examples of criminals subjecting disabled women to sex crimes as the later are always neglected by society and society is not serious over the problems they face. The criminals feel they can get away with it more easily. Women who are mentally retarded, deaf or are confined to wheel chairs are more vulnerable.

The disabled are not included in development and construction work. There is an obstructive environment all around. There is
no disabled-friendly environment anywhere. Many Nepali disabled are still forced to remain confined at home to live the life
of caged animals at a time when they should be going to school. Are all who are concerned going to stop and think of all out
change in this situation and draw the disabled out of darkness into light or are we to bring in large sums in the name of the disabled and just draw salaries as is done at some organizations? The time has come to ponder.

The concept of rights is such that it envisages not only advocacy for bringing access to those who have no access and for creating equality of opportunity but also enhancing the capacity of the beneficiary group and others concerned. Those working for the disabled at present have not been able to do anything more than distribute goodies to those with begging bowls along the roadside. That is not to ignore the successful efforts that have been made here and there. But these are like the occasional grain of sand in a heap of rice.

If one looks closely at the state of rights of disabled people in Nepal as a whole one finds that it is extremely pitiable. The disabled are completely deprived of opportunities like health care, education and employment which are indispensable for human life. As medical treatment for disabled is very expensive it is the state that assumes responsibility for this in other countries. But here one cannot even get a tablet. As the school enrollment campaign just launched by His Majesty's Government has not been able to work out a strategy on bringing disabled children to school, this campaign could not include the 50,000 disabled children who remain out of school. Such activities which remain confined to speeches and slogans could never bring sunshine to the lives of disabled citizens. The surprising thing is that big slogans are raised precisely where disabled people have no reach. The disabled are also citizens of this country. It is incumbent on all concerned to think about their rights, development and empowerment. Given opportunity the disabled can establish themselves as a resource rather than a burden.

The occasional voices raised for the disabled in accordance with the rights-oriented approach now seen in the world should
come within the mainstream. The human rights movement in our country should not see the development of a tradition of opening
umbrellas in Nepal when it rains in America. That is the reason why the voice of human rights activists in Nepal is not trusted well by the people. The main reason is that for years human rights workers have been ignoring the voice of the marginalized or those who are lagging behind and become the mouthpiece of political parties.

The establishing of a right is shared. The state, the market place and civil society are equally responsible. It is now indispensable to identify the real issue concerning the disabled and include this in the mainstream thereby ensuring them their rights. This calls for everyone's urgent attention. Just as it is said that a mother will not nurse her baby as long as the baby does not cry, rights should be seized instead of hoping someone will come along and bestow them upon you. It is already getting late for the disabled community to advance along the path of a rights-oriented movement by working together instead of breaking up. We could end up back in the eighth century, reduced to carrying a begging bowl with no gains in prospect. There will be nothing to do but to hold out the begging bowl and regret that there has been no gain at all.


Lack of Access

- By Eva Rasmussen

Freddy Trejos, consider himself lucky. Contrary to the majority of disabled Nicaraguans he has a job. He lives in the capital, Managua, and for the last four years he has been working as a programme officer in the Danish Association of Disabled.

"The worst problem we have to confront in this country is the lack of access to health system and education - a combination that leads to unemployment”, says Freddy Trejos.

He considers lack of knowledge about what it means to be disabled to be the main reason for the bad conditions. "Only through a focused advocacy campaign towards the authorities can we improve conditions“, thinks Freddy Trejos. "As such a campaign
presupposes a good organization and money it will not get started tomorrow," he adds.

Freddy Trejos opposes the personalization of disability, thus the reasons why Freddy Trejos are sitting in a wheelchair
remains unknown.

(Eva Rasmussen is Information Development Worker in MS Central America)