On Friday the 15th of March the organization held a peace voter education review meeting with PwDs in Gweru, Midlands Province, Zimbabwe. The meeting was aimed at assessing if the needs of the PwDs were met during elections. The meeting was also to create a platform for recommendation to ZEC regarding grievances from this particular group.
The programs Manager for 4-H Zimbabwe Mr Didmus Dewa gave a background and objectives of the project. He emphasized on the need to include PwDs in all development processes, particularly elections. He stated that all voices are supposed to be equal and that all voices should be heard.
Last year, the organization in conjunction with NPRC and ZEC held a peace voter education with these PwDs in Gweru to educate them about the importance of participating in National development process and to help them understand that their voices are important.
The participants were then grouped into 3 groups for discussions. Moderating this session was Mr Jerry Zingwevhu who is the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for the organization. The participants then presented on their experiences during elections and what they need.
The grievances that were raised were that people with disabilities were not involved in campaigns, manifestos etc. Some said that they could not access polling stations. However most them seemed to applaud ZEC for the improvements that were made as compared to previous years.
The recommendations included Transport for PwDs to polling stations, Online/Biometric voting especially for the visually impaired as it is faster and efficient, Braille pamphlets, PwDs representing PwDs in National processes for example a disability quota and to have sign language at Polling stations.
Closing the event , The executive director for 4-H Zimbabwe said the organization will continue to engage with ZEC and PwDs to ensure that all the issues that were raised are attended to so that they also enjoy their rights during elections.