Maputo — In Mozambique, many leaders of the disabled consider that, as a group, their most significant achievement had been the creation of legislation to protect them. However, it is not working properly. In a hardened tone, they are still having to complain about the same issues, which include the lack of ramps to facilitate entry to buildings, about excessive bureaucracy involved in processing their needs, the ineffectiveness of inclusive education and the lack of staff who have been trained and are qualified to deal with the disabled.

At the social services Forum for Disabled Associations (FAMOD) Vera Munguambe told @Verdade that whilst the greatest achievement of disabled people in the country had been the statutes that governed their care and support, serious human rights violations still persisted against this social group, which undermine all efforts aimed at ensuring their social inclusion.

In the Education sector, she believes that very little has actually been done to guarantee an inclusive education. The training and specialization of teachers according to the special needs of the disabled, the availability of text books and additional teaching tools remained a challenge. Aside from the Government claiming that it would be too expensive to provide these resources, there had been a total lack of planning for this purpose.

According to the Munguambe, FAMOD is studying ways of persuading policy makers in the country to take to heart the question of inclusive education.

With regard to social inclusion, for example, the biggest obstacle for the disabled is related to the need to change the attitude of society because disrespect for their rights persists. The laws and policies that defend those rights are dysfunctional. Another problem that hinders the effective fulfillment of the rights of the disabled is excessive bureaucracy.

There is no clear indication that it is a priority, and no concrete action.

Manager of the Association for the Promotion of Social Skills and Monitoring Children's Access to Education, Jorge Manhique, argues that inefficiency in implementation of policies to protect people with disabilities is caused by a lack of clearly defined priorities and concrete actions for this group, on behalf of the families.

The success of existing policies in the country depends, in part, on training officials in public and private institutions, said Manhique, for whom fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the area of inclusive education remains an illusion, judging by what has been done so far. "As long as the exclusion of disabled individuals from inclusive education persists, the MDGs will never be achieved, because the national education system is simply not designed for that purpose," he declared.

Removing the barriers depends on the political will of legislators.

The area manager for Institutional Development, Lobbying and Advocacy at the Association for the Disabled in Mozambique (ADEMO), Farida Mercy, said that their slogan "Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society" reaffirms the difficulties faced by disabled people, amongst which are family rejection and discrimination by society.

Existing barriers will only be removed if there is the political will on the part of those who hold office to pass legislation, and if priority is given to people with disabilities in implementing the different government programs in the employment market, education, health, transport and other sectors that contribute to the equitable and balanced development of the population and of the national economy.