Election campaigns: Parties ignore accessibility issues for people with disabilities

Campanhas eleitorais: Partidos ignoram questões de acessibilidade para pessoas com deficiência

People with physical limitations (especially wheelchair users) and cognitive limitations (sight, speech and hearing) are excluded from the inclusive accounts when it comes to political campaigning for votes.

The Mais Integridade Electoral Consortium revealed today in Maputo that political parties have often failed to take into account the accessibility of space and information for this group of people.

"Like the dynamics of the first week, people with disabilities were not represented in 60% of the activities of observed campaigns," said Director Executive of MISA Mozambique, Ernesto Nhanale.

The representative of the consortium was speaking during the presentation of the balance of the second week of electoral campaigns, with a view to the vote on October 9.

During this period, some concern for people with disabilities was only mentioned in seven percent of the activities. In the first week, the issues of concern to that group of people were not addressed in 60% of the activitiesand were mentioned in eight percent of the cases.

With regard to accessibility for people with disabilities, in the second week it was found that the issue was neglected in 90% of the election campaigns. In the first week, the scenario was verified in 88% of the campaigns.

In addition, the consortium found that in the election campaigns there were no interpreters to translate the messages of the parties' candidates into sign language.

"This data suggests that accessibility for people with disabilities is still not a priority for parties and campaigns continue to exclude voters with disabilities once again," he concluded Nhanale.

Meanwhile, the Forum of Mozambican Associations of People with Disabilities (FAMOD) is satisfied with the level of "inclusion", as some people have been integrated at different stages of the current electoral process.

Pascoal Guirrutapresident of the FAMODIn the province of Inhambane, he specified that some members of the organization had been hired to work as brigade members and civic education agents.

He believes that this openness on the part of the electoral bodies reflects efforts to include and recognize the abilities of people with disabilities.

"We try to integrate ourselves into all activities policies and participation actively in this election period," he said Guirruta, quoted by Rádio Moçambique.

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