Conference on the disabled opens in Kabul

A three-day conference focusing on the rights of the disabled opened in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday. It aims to bring about better coordination among sections of the international community working through the Afghan Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled (MMD).

"Life in Afghanistan is difficult enough without being disabled," Dr Mohammad Arif, the national chairman of the Afghan National Disability Commission (NDC) told IRIN on Sunday. "The reality is that many of these people would prefer to be dead."

While there are no national survey statistics available, indicators suggest that about five percent of the country's population is disabled – or approximately one million out of 20 million – making it one of the highest proportions in the world. The vast majority of that million owe their disabilities to war, landmines and polio. According to the UN, between 200 and 300 people continue to be taken to hospital each month with landmine injuries.

If the disabled is the main breadwinner of a family, the actual proportion of the population affected by disability is probably more than 10 percent.

Calling for greater awareness of their plight, Arif explained that most disabled people were poor, unemployed and had no access to proper services, adding that what services were available were limited to a few orthopaedic and physical therapy centres in the larger urban areas.

The conference, which opened with an inaugural address by Afghan Vice-President Abdul Karim Khalili, is being held at the Kabul Polytechnic, under the auspices of the NDC and supported by the Comprehensive Disabled Afghan Programme (CDAP), a joint initiative of the United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Office of Project Services (UNOPS).

During the workshop, a number of international agencies are providing intensive awareness training on the basis and benefits of rights for the disabled. The workshop is also set to introduce a new database capable of accurately identifying disabled people to ensure that services are provided where they are most needed.

Attending the conference are MMD representatives from each of Afghanistan’s 32 provinces, along with some 200 participants working in the field of disability from the international and local nongovernmental sector. To provide more coordinated access, the provinces have been grouped into six regional areas where services are concentrated: Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-e Sharif, Takhar and Jalalabad.

Commenting on the challenges being faced, Rahul Chandran, a UNOPS programme officer, told IRIN that it was particularly difficult to be disabled in a country struggling to rebuild its infrastructure. "Work is being done, but there is a lot more to do."

CDAP is also working with the Joint Afghan Taskforce on Legislation to develop new and comprehensive legislation for the rights of the disabled. Chandran noted that legislative reform and reaching all areas of the country were his main concerns. "We need to increase our coverage so as to better serve the disabled," he said.

32-year-old Shrinagha, a former Mujahidin commando who lost both his legs in the war lauded Chanfran's views. "Disabled people in Afghanistan have too many problems," he told IRIN. "Most people don’t understand the problems we face. There is no one helping us."

Meanwhile, Hayatullah Hashemi, found solace in the fact such a conference was being held at all. The 37-year-old father of two, who lost his left leg in a rocket attack 15 years ago, said just getting by on a daily basis was his greatest challenge. Earning just US $20 a month doing odd jobs, he was finding it almost impossible to provide for his family. "There are no job opportunities for the handicapped," he told IRIN. "The most important thing for me is to have some hope. Up until now, I haven’t had any."