Aug 21 WBU GA Session 10 - Public Policy - Elly Macha

Monday, August 21 11:00 – 12:30 WBU Session 10 Influencing Public Policy for Inclusion of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons Speaker: Elly Macha, Member of Parliament of Tanzania

INFLUENCING PUBLIC POLICY FOR INCLUSION OF BLIND AND PARTIALLY SIGHTED PERSONS

Panel Presentation at the 9th World Blind Union (WBU) General Assembly, Orlando, Florida, USA. 18th-25th August 2016

By Hon. Dr. Elly Macha (MP)

United Republic of Tanzania

Cell: +255-754892174

E-mail: [email protected]

Dear WBU 9th General Assembly Delegates, Observers and Invited Guests, all Protocol Observed.

First of all, I sincerely thank the organisers of the WBU 9th General Assembly to invite me as one of the Panellists to address this gathering on the very important subject matter, ”Influencing Public Policy for Inclusion of Blind and Partially Sighted Persons”.

Introduction

Public policy can be generally defined as a system of laws, regulatory measures, courses of action, and funding priorities concerning a given topic promulgated by a governmental entity or its representatives. It provides an agreed set of guidelines on what government does or does not do about a problem that comes before them for consideration and possible action. Public policy is made in response to some sort of issue or problem that requires attention. It is oriented toward a goal or desired state, such as the solution of a problem. It would usually be developed through a process which arises out of such an identified societal problem. In a democracy, one of the key characteristic of modern public policy development is public participation. In this case, the problem addressed by a particular policy will have been identified through a consultative process and the solution will be agreed upon within the confines of economic, social and political possibilities of a given state. Among the intricacies of public policy developments is that the determinants of such economic, social and political possibilities are set by the strong in the society. Democracy tends to favour the majority and to emphasise on problems which are experienced from the point of view of the majority. This is especially the case since policy is developed by representative of the people on behalf of the public. Even where the public has been given an opportunity to participate in the policy development, the ultimate role of policy formulation lies with the government which will be represented by a small group. Thus, where some of the groups or part of the communities are marginalised and ignored as not being productive or of much consequence in the political arena, their problems will usually not find place in public policy development.

Rationale for public policy influence for inclusion of blind and partially sighted persons

Persons with disabilities in general and blind and partially sighted persons in particular in history had no place in public participation. They were left out of both the policy formulation and policy consideration. However, the era of building human rights concerns in modern democracy ushered in a revolution which has brought about a remarkable departure from the past. This is evidence through the long journey of the United Nations in this endeavour from the 1971 Declaration of the rights of the mentally handicapped, the 1975 declaration of the rights of persons with disabilities, the 1983 World programme of action on disability, 1993 Standard rules on equalisation of opportunities to persons with disabilities and the most recent (2006) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). These instruments have come about as a result of great effort of parents in the early years and spirited advocacy work of organisations of persons with disabilities at the International level in the latter years. The instruments have become a basis for policy formulation in many UN member states around such areas of concern as education, health, rehabilitation, training, employment, political participation, adequate standards of living etc. The Convention in particular emphasises the fact that the principle of equal rights implies that the needs of each and every individual are of equal importance, that such needs should be made the basis for the planning of societies and that all resources should be employed in such a way that every individual has equal opportunity for inclusion and participation.

Although there has been a remarkable enthusiasm on the convention which has been ratified by 166 UN member states at the time of preparing this presentation, different member states are at very different levels of translating its provisions into acceptable and workable policies. Many of the states have ratified and then put the document in their shelves. Even where policies have been developed and some implementation taken place, there is no doubt there are many problems in our communities that need to be solved. Although some problems may readily be dealt with by actions taken in the private sphere (individuals and families) or by our civil society (social, economic, political or religious associations or organizations, policy influence focus should at all times remain the Government. This is where our advocacy as organisations of blind and partially sighted persons and those with other disabilities is most needed. We also need to build alliances with like-minded organisations for greater impact in our work.

Advocacy in Public policy influence

As a community of blind and partially sighted persons, we have in our advocacy to bear in mind that Public policy problems are those that must be addressed by laws and regulations adopted by government. Our key target for advocacy is therefore the Government but there are many other stakeholders whom we have either to enlist in our advocacy work or to bear in mind as we go about our advocacy endeavours. Our first task is to firmly establish that the problem we want to work on is, in fact, one which requires government involvement to reach a solution. Many of those outlined in the CRPD will fall in this category. We also have to bear in mind that policy making is part of an ongoing process that does not always have a clear beginning or end, since decisions about who will benefit from policies and who will bear any burden resulting from the policy are continually reassessed, revisited and revised.

We should aim to shape public policy through a multiplicity of approaches ensuring mobilization of similar interest groups like ourselves. Shaping public policy will be different from state to state but it is reasonable to assume that the process always involves efforts by competing interest groups to influence policy makers in their favour. Public policy is a complex and multifaceted process. It involves the interplay of many parties. This includes many interest groups and individuals competing and collaborating to influence policymakers to act in a particular way and on a variety of policies. These individuals and groups use numerous tactics to advance their interests. The tactics can include lobbying, advocating their positions publicly, attempting to educate supporters and opponents, and mobilizing allies on a particular issue. These are skills we should not only perfect but also utilise at all times in any of our advocacy campaign. As blind and partially sighted advocates, we should not only initiate our own endeavours but also to seek our place in the advocacy work carried out by other groups with similar needs like women and the youth. Perfect policies rarely emerge from the political process. Given the fact that policy influence has to do with competing for available resources, most often policy outcomes involve compromises among interested parties. When a group considers which policy to support and advocate for, considerations include what is in their best interest—that is, which policy could help the group achieve the greatest benefits. Equity is another consideration; is the policy fair, are the benefits from the policy equitably distributed, and are the costs of the policy shared fairly?

Other considerations include the policy’s political feasibility, whether a majority of others will support the policy, and also how cost effective and efficient the policy would be in achieving the desired outcome.

A major aspect of public policy is law. In many states the CRPD has been domesticated into local laws. In a general sense, the law includes specific legislation and more broadly defined provisions of constitutional or international law. There are many ways that the law can influence how persons with disabilities are treated and the types of services they receive. Likewise, legislation identifies areas in which research grants can be funded and often determines the amount of funding allocated. Thus, it is not surprising that public policy debates occur over proposed legislation and funding. As a movement of persons with visual impairment, we should no longer be shy as we seek to wrestle the now well documented rights as enshrined in the CRPD. We should assert ourselves on the discussion table with other groups like women and the youth and where necessary make allies with them in the struggle for our rights on equal standing with them. We should take the cue from the fact that the International Disability Movement of which we are a part played a most vital role towards the development and the promulgation of the CRPD. The convention is therefore a product of the movement at that level and this is a road we have embarked on and which we should not abandon. We should also realize that the international movement puts the treaty into the doors of the National movement to push for its implementation and monitoring at national, communities and grassroot levels. There is therefore great need for a strong disability movement at the international, regional, national and local levels to continue advocacy in all aspects of life in favour of blind and partially sighted persons and to influence policies at all these different levels. Such a movement should also be capable of playing the role of a watchdog to the implementation of favourable policies specific to the blind and partially sighted persons as guided by the CRPD.

Besides continued efforts on influencing policy around the provisions of the CRPD, there are two other processes which have emerged after CRPD on which our advocacy efforts should never be faltered. The first of these is the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which have become the new International development Framework, 2015-2030 and which from now on should be our advocacy target at all the different levels of our society. The aim here is to ensure that we are not left out in the implementation and that we take our role in monitoring of the framework, to enable us live in the world we want, not only up to 2030 but beyond. The second one is the Marrakesh treaty which aims at curbing the global book famine that over 285 million print disabled people have been facing. This treaty has recently come into effect and unlike the CRPD and SDGs, we blind and partially sighted persons must be the main driving force as this affects us more than any other of the main known disabilities. Besides, we are the initiators of this treaty and our efforts must at all time not to be seen to diminish.

Conclusion

Public policies are influenced by a variety of factors external to us which we need to be aware of at all times in our advocacy work. These factors include public opinion, economic conditions, new scientific discoveries, technological change, interest groups, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), business lobbying, and other political activities.

As a result of the wide variety of influencing factors that tend to pull and push policy in different directions, public policy change often happens slowly. Absent a crisis, and sometimes even during a crisis, the influencing factors can tend to check and counteract each other, slowing the development and implementation of new policy and tending to lead to incremental rather than radical changes in public policy. And often, the influencing agents are more effective in blocking policy change than in having new policies adopted.

Given the importance of public policy influence in addressing the needs of communities, it is crucial that blind and partially sighted persons through their organisations at local, national, regional and international levels participate in all the stages of development and implementation of policies which shape the lives of the public. It is necessary that they build strong associations at local and national levels which are able to provide the much needed platform to engage, not only with the government but also to be on the table with other groups as equals.

I thank you all for listening.