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Creating a just and inclusive society for all
Author: Marcia Lyner-Cleophas
Published: 02/12/2016

On Saturday (3 December 2016), we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. In an opinion piece published in Eikestadnuus on Thursday (1 December 2016), Dr Marcia Lyner-Cleophas of the Disability Unit at Stellenbosch University highlights the importance of creating a just and inclusive society for all.

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Creating a just and inclusive society for all

Marcia Lyner-Cleophas

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated annually on 3 December to draw our attention to how we are faring towards creating a just and inclusive society for all.

This year's theme "Achieving 17 goals for the future we want" highlights the role that the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations can play in building a more inclusive and equitable world for persons with disabilities.

As far as person with disabilities are concerned, some of the SDGs focus on inclusive, equitable and quality education; full and productive employment; social, economic and political inclusion; and inclusive and safe cities.

The fact that this year's celebrations are linked with the SDGs is a clear indication of a move towards creating environments that are more inclusive, whether this is about physical access, access to information, access to employment, communicating inclusively or developing policies that promote inclusivity at all levels of society.

This focus on inclusivity also finds expression in our government's White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2015) which vision it is to create a free and just society inclusive of all persons with disabilities as equal citizens. In this regard, the White Paper states that "persons with disabilities must be accorded equitable social rights as all other people in society because the provision of these rights enables full participation in the life of society. It includes the right to education, healthcare, housing, transport, sport, recreation, culture, social development services, food security and family life."

Our work in higher education and specifically at Stellenbosch University (SU) resonates with this White Paper and more specifically the creation of a University that prides itself on striving towards equitable contexts for persons with disabilities.  As a University, we are located in the town of Stellenbosch, where the town and campus are intertwined in such a way that we are impacted by the development of Stellenbosch.

The planning and outlay of the town and its accessibility will have an impact on visitors, residents or students who will interact with the town and its infrastructure. Let us use a staff member or a student using a wheelchair as an example. To get around the University, he or she will need barrier-free access. Should the person wish to go into town using a wheelchair, pavements, shops, restaurants and places of leisure would need to be physically accessible. We have strengthened our links with Stellenbosch Municipality in the past few years in our recognition of this fusion between the town and the university.

This year, the Municipality approved a universal access framework which will guide them in their work to become more accessible to the people of Stellenbosch. This marked a big shift in how they viewed disability and their environment, realising that the environment is often the disabling factor that prevents people with disabilities from equitable participation.

The shift, amongst other debates around accessibility and disability on our campus, has given us at SU the necessary impetus to also pursue a policy that considers all its staff, students and visitors to campus. Currently, the University has a Policy on Students with Disabilities (Special Needs). This policy guides how we facilitate support to students from the Disability Unit located at the Centre for Student Counselling and Development.  This was a good move about 10 years ago as it got us to focus more systemically on our support to our students.

The time has come for us to move towards a policy that resonates with all staff, students and visitors to our campus as disability is not just about people but also about how we, as a University, view people and respond to their diverse needs. It is about how we create spaces on campus that are truly welcoming to all people regardless of their abilities.  

It is also about how people can use our spaces, access our information and how we teach and learn in a way that is welcoming to a wide variety of people. It is about how we strive to create the framework and context for us to be inclusive to most. We are currently developing a policy called the Universal Access Policy for Stellenbosch University, a move sanctioned by the Rector's Management Team and many stakeholders on campus. This policy will come to fruition towards the end 2017.

As part of our efforts to improve access and promote inclusivity for persons with disabilities, we have also joined hands with the Stellenbosch Disability Network (SDN) and Stellenbosch Municipality to address issues around disability that affect the university, town and surrounding communities.

To this end, we will join these two organisations at the Stellenbosch Town Hall for the Walk with Disability  on 3 December from 9h30-10h30 to show our commitment to creating an inclusive society that allows persons with disabilities to reach their full potential.

*Marcia Lyner-Cleophas is an educational psychologist and Head of the Disability Unit at Stellenbosch University.