A Step towards Empowering of Persons with Disabilities
The procedure for recruiting people with disabilities in the Afghan civil service came into force on 1 December 2019, with the signing of Mohammad Nader Naderi, head of the Afghan Civil Service Reform and Services Commission. It is said that the aforementioned procedure has been developed and implemented by the Afghan Commissions for Administrative Reforms and Civil Service and Human Rights using World Trade in this field. The procedure states that all government departments, including ministries, are required to hire 2 percent of their staff from the disabled and provide the disabled with the opportunity to achieve their occupational rights (while the percentage quota is Work in the Afghan Civil Service was also envisaged in the previous procedure.) As well as in the new procedure, in addition to facilitating the process of declaring vacancies, filling out forms, and exam questions, three were noted. Percentage of empty row slabs means five and six slabs, for persons with disabilities, collective test function don’t come back. Although more privileges are given to persons with disabilities in the new procedure than before, it can certainly be said that the chances of doing so will not be very high given the corruption in the offices and the food available in the process. Assuming that the disability employment procedure in the civil service can be implemented, another question arises as to how a person with disabilities can benefit with financial benefits of five and six and even higher, with did the irregularities that exist in the country’s transportation system, especially Kabul and many other cities, come to his office every day? The more important question is whether the government buildings in which people with disabilities are supposed to work have facilities such as a wheelchair, toilets, and other amenities. That is, of course, the answer is in most cases negative. Mohammad Nader Naderi, head of the Commission for Administrative Reforms and Civil Services, admitted that only 0.8 percent of the civil service disabled people’s share of the civil service is 0.8 percent. In other words, of the 400,000 civil servants in Afghanistan, only 3,000 are disabled, of which 3,000 make up 0.8 percent of the 400,000. This confesses that, as in the past eighteen years, disabled people have been neglected by the government in terms of their occupational rights. After all, the challenges of people with disabilities are not only summarized in the problem of employment, but also in the more serious problems, unfortunately in our country.
The present situation in the light of statistics
The law of our country defines a disabled person as “a disabled person who, by physical, sensory, mental and psychological injury or with the diagnosis of a health commission, has lost his or her health and performance in a manner that diminishes his or her capacity in the social arena. And become economical. ” According to statistics, 15% of the world’s population and 10.3% of the Afghan population are handicapped, and about 80% of those with disabilities are not affected by the wars, according to the State Department of Martyrs Policy. And the disabled are non-disabled and receive no disability benefits from the government. Of the more than one million in Afghanistan, about 140,000 are registered and registered in the ministry, according to government statistics on the Ministry of Martyrs and Disability, and receive two livelihood categories. Disabled people with a disability rate of over 60%; 60,000 Afghans annually; and Disabled persons with a disability rate of between 30 and 60%; only 30,000 Afghans receive a living wage and nothing else. The key question is, while there is no difference between disabled and non-combatants in terms of reduced ability to work and both require government assistance, how can one be paid and not the other? The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) also claims that about 162,000 people with disabilities are registered across Afghanistan and that the number of people with disabilities is increasing annually in Afghanistan.
Social Problems
Alongside occupational and livelihood problems, there are also social problems in the lives of the disabled that make life bitter. One of these is the insults and ridicule that people with disabilities usually face in our society. Lighter terms such as crap, blind, etc. are often used to insult and blame the disabled … If as a human being, the language of insult and ridicule on the shoulders of each of us is heavy, surely insult and Mockery ends for the heavier handicapped. Because they are much more psychologically vulnerable than non-disabled people. Another social problem that the disabled in Afghanistan have is their doubts about their abilities. In our society, not only is there a skepticism about the skills of the handicapped, but they are generally thought of as disabled and helpless … while in the developed world, the handicapped have a great deal of variety. Disregard for the rehabilitation of the disabled is also an acute problem facing the disabled in the country. If the rehabilitation of people with disabilities becomes a national culture in many respects, some will become self-reliant and the burden of responsibility for society and the state will be lighter. Mentoring and a sense of compassion are other social problems that disabled people in Afghanistan face. In our country, not only are the positive and valuable activities of people with disabilities not appreciated, but they are also morally abusive and derogatory. It has also been widely seen that a number of people with a sense of inadequate compassion for people with disabilities – though well-intentioned – violate their self-esteem and kill their morale.
What should we do?
The formal procedures for employing people with disabilities in the official circles are a commendable step. But in a country where there are more than a million people with disabilities and a culture of interaction with people with disabilities is not institutionalized, legislation and regulations are not going to solve the problem of people with disabilities. Handling Disability Problems requires launching a national project, and the government alone cannot do this. Government, civil society organizations, the media, politics, mosque imams, university professors and schools, writers and other strata of the nation must work together to make the National Disability Empowerment Project a success, on the one hand. Disability to achieve a more appropriate life and on the other hand the heavy burden of protecting them from the burden of government and families.
In order to empower the disabled in the country, the following steps are essential as a first step:
1- It is necessary for the government to develop a comprehensive strategy, using the experience of the world, taking into account the realities of Afghanistan, in order to empower the disabled in the country to arrange and adhere in all respects. Also, the annual budget of the country should allocate an appropriate share to the disabled.
- The Ministries of Education and Higher Education should take the necessary measures to accept students with disabilities in schools and universities, and to grant them special privileges at all levels.
- The media must play an effective role in empowering the disabled, portraying the faces of the disabled on the one hand, and launching a broad awareness campaign on the other hand, aimed at rehabilitating this disadvantaged segment of society.
4- Imams of the mosques and shrines of the holy can give people a spiritual impetus through the verses and hadiths through the pulpits and encourage them to cooperate with the disabled. In addition, university professors and teachers should convey to their children the message of rehabilitation for the disabled by their students and to serve them through this window.
- National businessmen can take an active part in this arena through financial charity, more than anyone else, to empower disabled people through charities and civil society.
6 – And finally, the public should, through good and respectful interaction, give persons with disabilities the feeling that they have equal rights and dignity with others and have little regard for them.