Protecting and empowering persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) has rolled out a five grantee project in the Asian Pacific region in order to cull out an assessment of the current situation of persons with disabilities (PwDs). As a part of this initiative, Samarthyam Organization was selected as a partner in India for project titled “Protecting and empowering persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic”.

 Aims and Objectives

·       To strengthen the capacities of PwDs and Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (OPD), mainstream community networks and government agencies in the State of Rajasthan, India

·       To integrate disability rights and inclusion into institutional and community structures, processes and mechanisms, thereby contributing to an improved standard of living for persons with disabilities.

The Soft Launch of the UNESCAP- Samarthyam Project

In order to achieve this, Samarthyam chose to collaborate with the All People’s Network Organization (APNO), an initiative of Sightsavers. APNO is a state level network of persons with disabilities (PwDs), the members of which come from systemically marginalized communities with varied socio-cultural backgrounds. Although, the main training activities of the project are meant to happen face to face, the COVID-19 pandemic, which emerged again this year, changed many things about the workshops/ training to be organised one to one. The project planning and background work began through online platforms of building the connections in early March 2021. Having identified the primary stakeholders, the PwDs and their organizations and the main partners for implementing the project, Samarthyam decided to organize a virtual launch of the project. Therefore, the soft Launch took place on the 27^th March 2021 to kick-start the project and instill a sense of ownership in the OPD members towards the project. It was one of a kind where Samarthyam team, 23 APNO members, Sightsavers Rajasthan team, and dignitaries from UNESCAP, Ms. Cai Cai and Ms. Le Stephanie successfully launched the project virtually.

Samarthyam’s Commitment for effective implementation of the Project

Dr. Anjlee Agrawal, Co-founder & Executive Director, Samarthyam commenced the Launch by welcoming everyone and introducing the project and its objectives to the participants. She emphasized the point that the empowerment of PwDs on their rights and entitlements under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the indigenous Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 (RPWD Act) would strengthen and improve their active participation in the effective implementation of the RPWD Act. The project also envisions raising awareness, supporting increased participation of PwDs in governmental decision making processes and informal setups viz. self-help groups (SHGs) and other governmental committees. Anjlee also noted that the constantly changing ground level scenario due to the pandemic may lead to changes in the activity timelines; however, mitigation planning for such a possibility was also initiated. She invited Mr. Sudeep Goyal, an Accessibility Auditor from Rajasthan trained and supported by Samarthyam to address the participants and apprise of Accessible India Campaign implementation in Jaipur, Rajasthan. He shared his experiences about refurbishments in public buildings and advocacy for making these audited buildings end user friendly.

Thereafter, Ms. Cai Cai, Chief, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion Section, ESCAP provided a brief background about PwDs in the Asia Pacific region. She highlighted the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013–2022, and the Incheon Strategy to “Make the Right Real” for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific. The strategy covers numerous development issues including employment generation, accessibility, reduction of poverty, social protection, early interventions, education, disability, etc. She elucidated that as we are nearing the end of the decade, hence ESCAP is planning to undertake a stock taking exercise to review the status of disability rights in the Asia Pacific region. This exercise is aimed to determine the next steps and areas of focus in the coming years. She felt that this current set of project partnerships by ESCAP will lead to the empowerment of PwDs for dealing with the present situation and a post pandemic world. Ms. Cai Cai words boosted the morale of the participants at the Launch and encouraged them to foresee a successful implementation of this project.

Voices from the Ground

The Launch would have been incomplete without hearing from the PwDs who work tirelessly for their kind. Many of them have fought long struggles to become leaders and are facilitating the movement in the field to help other PwDs to access their rights and entitlements. One such vibrant leader is Ms. Husaina Bi, a woman with locomotor disability, marginalized on the basis of religion and class, fought tooth and nail to be an OPD leader. Sharing her expectations from this project, she hoped that it will lead to increased accessibility of PwDs at the district level along-with promoting the participation of PwDs in general and women with disabilities (WwDs) in particular. Akhilesh, another OPD leader stated his enthusiasm and articulated that the capacity building workshops under the project will provide avenues to engage and partner with district level government officials.

Project Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy

No project is complete without its timely monitoring, which leads to learning that can be useful to those involved in the project and to others wanting to take up similar actions in the future. Thus, Samarthyam’s Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant, Ms. Seema Baquer explained her role in documenting the project process, experiences, learning and changes achieved.

Beginning of the Disability Inclusive Journey

Anjlee accentuated that ESCAP-Samarthyam project partnership as an endeavor to bring meaningful changes towards inclusion of PwDs in Rajasthan, India. The project’s outcome and achievements will leave behind legacy of Disability Inclusive Decade 2022. Hence, this soft launch marks the beginning of tangible impact creation in lives of PwDs. She hoped that the project outcomes and achievements will be followed as best practice in other countries in the region.   

Finally, Ms. Tushita Mukherjee from Sightsavers concluded the event. She hoped this project would definitely make the State of Rajasthan a model inclusive State for PwDs. It would facilitate increased gender sensitivity for women with disabilities and lead to mainstreaming of disability related issues in the government set ups. The Launch ended with vote of thanks and marked beginning of journey of Disability Inclusion during and post CoVID-19 pandemic.

Author:

Dr. Anjlee Agarwal
Universal Accessibility & Sustainable Mobility Specialist
Samarthyam, Centre for Accessible Environments
www.samarthyam.com