Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities calls for enhanced disability inclusion across all sectors

The Department of Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities (DWYPD) reiterates its call for strengthened disability inclusion across all sectors of society. The Department emphasises that persons with disabilities must be meaningfully included in policy development, planning, budgeting, and programme implementation. Ensuring the rights, dignity, and full participation of persons with disabilities is not only a constitutional obligation, but it is fundamental to South Africa’s transformative development agenda.

Persons with disabilities, both in South Africa and across the globe, remain at the bottom of the ladder of socio-economic power and remain most vulnerable to violence. Empowering persons with disabilities across all sectors is a fundamental prerequisite for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

This includes advancing accessible built environments, inclusive education, equitable employment and economic participation, access to assistive devices and support services, and strengthened social protection systems.

Disability inclusion across all sectors of society is a call towards a consensus approach in promoting and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities. The rights of persons with disability should be mainstreamed across to ensure that persons with disabilities are not further marginalised and excluded from all processes of decision-making, participation and beneficiation.

During Disability Rights Awareness Month, the Department calls upon every member of society and all stakeholders to actively reflect on their roles and assess our achievements, identify the gaps, and confront the challenges in our pursuit of true inclusivity for individuals with disabilities. Let us commit to taking decisive action to ensure that every person is recognised, valued, and empowered.

Enquiries:
Head of Communication
Cassius Selala
Cell: 060 534 0672

Spokesperson for the Minister in the Presidency for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities
Nompendulo Mkhatshwa
Cell: 083 406 6496

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