Development Programme

Advocacy & disability inclusion (ADI)

There is a huge ability in disability

Disability Is Not Inability

CCBRT’s Advocacy & Disability Inclusion Unit was formed to promote disability inclusion in Tanzania. Its work includes training people with disabilities (PWDs) and their relatives about their rights, connecting them to social and professional resources, and advocating for their active inclusion in mainstream society. The Unit also educates duty bearers and communities around Tanzania about disability issues such as appropriate disability terminology and accessibility standards.

The Unit lobbies for disability inclusion across sectors, particularly in health, education and transport. The unit trains frontline health care workers to ensure health services, such as family planning, are accessible for people with disabilities. In schools, the Unit prepares teachers and administrators to provide high quality, inclusive education for children with disabilities. It also works with public transport organisations, including the Dar es Salaam Area Rapid Transit (DART) bus system, to ensure PWDs can travel without restrictions.

The Unit teaches corporates, NGOs, non-profit organisations and government officials about disability inclusion in the workplace and to connect PWDs to work opportunities. CCBRT is a well-known lobbyist at national level and in recognition of their expertise and impact on the lives of PWDs in Tanzania, members of the team participated in the constitutional review process to ensure disability rights were included and protected.

Inclusive Workplaces

One way that CCBRT strives to build disability inclusive communities is by focusing on access to employment for PWDs. To facilitate access to work opportunities for people with disabilities, CCBRT’s Advocacy Unit conducts physical workplace accessibility audits, offers advice to employers making inclusive work site and service adjustments, and leads capacity building trainings on disability and inclusion that are tailored to the needs and goals of different employers. During these various consultancies, the team advises employers on disability inclusion, enhance knowledge about their legal obligation towards employment of PWDs and on the rights of PWDs under Tanzanian law.

In addition to its work with employers, the Unit supports PWDs in accessing the workplace by maintaining a database of PWDs seeking employment and connecting PWD job-seekers registered in the database with employment opportunities (including internships).

The Unit offers Disability Lunch & Learn sessions, Disability Awareness sessions and comprehensive Disability Inclusion Training in collaboration with the CCBRT Academy.

Towards an inclusive society

  • Improve inclusivity in Health Programming, through: Training of Health Policy makers and Health Programme Implementing agencies to make their policies and programmes inclusive
    Training of Frontline Health Care workers on inclusive service delivery including provision of sign language and health messaging in accessible formats Conduct physical accessibility audits of healthcare facilities, Create awareness for PWDs and their relatives on their rights.
  • Support the implementation of the national policy on the employment of PWD byassisting employers in creating and executing their roadmap to become an inclusive organization.
  • Promote inclusive programming in other sectors and secure national support for greater disability inclusion across sectors
  • Continue registering people with disabilities in the CCBRT Employment Database and connecting registered PWDs with employment opportunities
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