New campaign in Tanzania on the rights of deaf people
Campaign
Tanzania’s Citizen newspaper recently reported that the Tanzania Association for the Deaf (Chavita) has launched an awareness campaign to educate government officials on human rights for people with hearing impairment.
It has been estimated that more than 600,000 people in the country have hearing impairment, according to data from the Tanzanian National Policy on Disability (NPD). The idea behind the campaign is to ensure that Tanzanians who are hearing impaired are involved in formulating government policies. Another aim is to help those with hearing impairment to monitor and help implement government development activities in this area.
The campaign is to run in Mwanza, Arusha and Morogoro regions in the north and center of the country, and will include Ward executive officers, local leaders and civil servants from district councils. Chavita public relations officer Msafiri Mhando told the Citizen that the campaign would also help people with hearing loss to understand that they are full citizens of the country and are protected by the law, like all other people.
“Their abilities are overlooked, their capacities are underestimated and their needs are not given priority,” Mhando said. He also emphasized that the time had come for the government and nongovernmental organizations, including the media, to use interpreters for the deaf to ensure they were included in development activities.
Source: The Citizen of Tanzania
