The Sililo Foundation keeps on raising awareness about the inaccessibility of many of public infrastructure to persons with disabilities in Zambia. And in line with this, was the organisation’s visit to the Lusaka National Museum on the 29th November, 2023, with its visiting American disability policy expert, Colin Kilick, who is also executive director of the Disability Policy Consortium, a U.S. based disability interests organisation.
This is in its quest to raising awareness on the discrimination against persons with disabilities that is perpetrated by public institutions in Zambia. Among them is the lack of accessibility to public facilities such as the Lusaka City Council Civic Centre, the Supreme Court of Zambia, the Government Complex in Lusaka, the University of Zambia, and this facility in question, the Lusaka National Museum.
It is quite disturbing that even after the struggle of wheelchair users to just access the Lusaka National Museum through the multiple flights of stairs that begin just right from the entrance of the facility, they are unable to answer the call of nature through the toilets that are available at the facility because of the small doors that are unable to allow a wheelchair user to pass through. There is no any other proper definition the phrase ‘crime against humanity’ as this one perpetuated by the Lusaka National Museum.
As a people, we cannot talk about inclusion of persons with disabilities in the development agenda of this country, Zambia, when we are terribly failing to address some of the most basic fundamental principles, such as the provision of accessibility to public facilities for persons with physical disabilities, that are supposed to back us up as we champion this cause.
It is actually a mockery of the disability community in Zambia and world over, for a system to talk about inclusion of persons with disabilities in its development agenda, and yet very little is being done to address the most critical issues that are hindering progress in achieving this goal.
The Sililo Foundation, therefore, would like to urge public institutions in the country, among them, the Lusaka National Museum and those already stated, to be champions of disability rights and disability inclusion not only in words, but also in practical terms. For this is the only sure way to ensure that persons with disabilities are not on the peripherals of the country’s development agenda, but are part and parcel of it.
About the Author
The author is the Sililo Foundation Executive Director
