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Blessings Chidakwa Correspondent
PEOPLE living with disabilities should avoid personal differences and unite to enable themselves to access and fully benefit from programmes and projects meant for them.

In an interview, national chairperson of Young Voices, a group of youths living with disabilities Miss Nyasha Mahwende said they had decided to collapse all organisations working on disabilities and come up with one umbrella body to unite people living with all forms of disabilities so that they have one goal, which will easily make their voices heard.

“We want to take disability as one aspect,” she said.

“We have been not been able to fully benefit from various programmes being initiated by either Government or civil society as we lack a unified voice.

“At national level, we have so many organisations representing us, a move which was confusing even donors.

“People either living with albinism or blindness would say we want special recognition in a certain area, but that should cease, we can make an impact if we speak with one voice.”

Miss Mahwende said lack of unity among the group was contributing to lack of national statistics with regards to the disabled.

“At national level, we have no consolidated data of people living with disabilities, being caused by the divisions we have,” she said.

“We will not be taken seriously if we are to continue in this manner.”

Ms Lizzie Zvenyika, one of the people living with disabilities, urged Government to speed up the process of making educational facilities friendly.

“Some had suggested special schools for us, but that is not what we want, to us that will be segregation, we need to be accommodated together with everyone,” she said.

“Government should just increase the pace at which it is making educational facilities friendly, especially in rural areas.”

Miss Mahwende discouraged people from feeling pity for the disabled, but treat them as equals instead.