Pretoria:The spotlight will fall on the promotion of disability rights when Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities, Sindisiwe Chikunga, launches Disability Rights Awareness Month (DRAM) this Friday. This annual campaign in South Africa aims to promote the rights, dignity, equality, and social inclusion of people with disabilities.
According to South African Government News Agency, this year's campaign will begin with an awareness walk by people with disabilities from Church Square to the Union Buildings in Pretoria on Friday. The event will bring together government representatives, organizations of people with disabilities, civil society, disability rights advocates, and other stakeholders to raise awareness about the rights, dignity, equality, and inclusion of people with disabilities.
Department spokesperson Cassius Selala stated that the awareness walk seeks to reaffirm that people with disabilities are equal rights holders, who must enjoy the same human rights, fundamental freedoms, and opportunities as everyone else. Selala also emphasized the responsibility of the government, private sector, communities, and society at large to dismantle barriers that prevent people with disabilities from participating fully and equally in all aspects of social, economic, political, and cultural life.
The campaign is supported by South Africa's constitutional commitment to equality and non-discrimination, the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD). These frameworks advocate for the protection of the rights of people with disabilities and the creation of an inclusive society where accessibility, reasonable accommodation, independent living, and meaningful participation are prioritized.
Through Disability Rights Awareness Month, Selala noted that the Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities aims to strengthen public understanding of disability rights, challenge stigma and discrimination, promote accessible public spaces and services, and encourage coordinated efforts to advance the inclusion of people with disabilities in the implementation of national development priorities.