Disabled Kazakhs Active in Attracting Public Attention to Their Problems

Kazakh Foreign Ministry

A nation-wide rally for people with disabilities titled “Movement is Life!” took place in Kazakhstan from June 29 to July 5, capturing the attention of the mass media, public and state authorities. Twenty six drivers with the deceases of musculoskeletal system traveled across the country on cars with manual control to declare, despite their physical illnesses, that the disabled people remain an active part of Kazakhstan’s society.

The rally, held regularly over the last five years, this year followed the Kostanay – Astana - Qaraghandy – Almaty – Taldykorgan – Taraz – Kostanay route.  The primary goal of the project was targeted not at the government officials but at the physically challenged people themselves who have consciously estranged themselves from society.

“Our objective was to promote active lifestyle among the disabled themselves. Thus we wanted to demonstrate all people with disabilities, especially the younger ones, that their life is not limited to television and houses. Physically handicapped can live a full life and be useful for the society, their families and our state,” Deputy Chairwoman of the Kazakh Confederation of Persons with Disabilities Aruna Zhaksagulova said.

In addition, on July 1, a photo contest with the motto “Equal access – equal opportunities” took place. The major idea of the competition was to demonstrate how hard it is for a person in the wheelchair to move around the world with so many steps and curbs, and so few specially designated staircases and ramps.

“We believe the pictures and the photo art are a perfect way to attract public attention to problems of the physically handicapped people. We also hope the participants have thought on the issue and discovered something new in the process of work over the photographs,” Togzhan Ibrayeva, representative of the project, said.

“During the contest we received more than 500 various pictures reflecting the reality faced by the disabled persons in Kazakhstan. In addition, we received photos from around the world, including India, Egypt, Bangladesh, Netherlands, the USA, Lithuania, Uzbekistan and Russia,” she added.

The total number of the disabled in Kazakhstan reaches 475,000 people, which constitutes a little more than three persons of the country’s population. It is no secret that the majority of the physically impaired people face a great number of challenges in their everyday life, as infrastructure in cities around Kazakhstan is not fully adopted for their needs. Very often the latter creates discrimination and prejudice against persons with disabilities.

“Unfortunately, the disabled have virtually no access to the public. You can hardly meet people in wheelchairs in the cities, because they have no appropriate facilities to move freely,” Chairman of the Public Association of Invalids Roza Akzharkenova said.

Meanwhile, the Kazakh government and state agencies, along with non-governmental organizations of the country have turned to hard work in providing better conditions for people with disabilities and overcoming existing drawbacks. These include implementing special programs and new initiatives, initiating conferences to attract attention to the problem, adoption of international conventions and a range of other measures.

The state policy on disabled persons’ protection is based on the Constitution of Kazakhstan and other legislative norms. It guarantees social, economic, and legal conditions providing equal opportunities for life and integration to the society for the disabled persons. The state carries out measures aimed to protect rights and freedoms, to prevent accidents leading to disabilities and to establish equal conditions for disabled people in the society.

In addition, Kazakhstan supports the International Convention on Disabilities which provides guidelines and collective measures for policy makers to pursue policies and plans, and diminishes gap between the plans and actions, bringing together the approaches of developing nations with the developed countries. Kazakhstan supports the goals of the Convention, which is to ensure persons with disabilities enjoy all human rights.

At the same time, the legislation in Kazakhstan provides protection of rights, freedoms and legal interests of the disabled, the participation of non-governmental organizations and citizens in the activities on problems of the handicapped people. The legislation in the field of social protection of the disabled pays special attention to issues of proper conditions for free access to social infrastructure; preventive measures, medical and professional rehabilitation of the disabled; education and professional training; labour rights, which includes and social protection for the disabled. One has to acknowledge there is still a lot to be done, but it seems there is better awareness in the government and the public about the importance of the issue.