Casual Day is a project that raises funds for services for people with disabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe project is also involved in influencing the government\u2019s policy and legislation framework around disability, through its parent organisation, the National Council for Persons with Physical Disabilities in South Africa (NCPPDSA),\u201d said Andrea Vinassa, media liaison for Casual Day.<\/p>
\u201cThe funding that we generate through the Casual Day project is utilised in many ways that are not always evident,\u201d said the NCPPDSA director, Therina Wentzel.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, it is important to provide services to people with disabilities on a daily basis, and this is done through our 12 national beneficiary organisations.<\/p>
\u201cBut it is also very important that we steer policy and legislation.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we celebrate Youth Month, we are mindful of the fact that children with disabilities suffer more abuse and neglect than other children in general.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur work takes us to communities where children live in really dire conditions, without any resources or recourse to the law.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have recently made recommendations on the programmatic inclusion of children with disabilities in government\u2019s roll-out of the Isibindi community-based child protection programme.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NCPPDSA aims to ensure that children with disabilities are fully accommodated and provided for in general child protection programmes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Isibindi model of care is a community-based programme that trains unemployed community members in accredited, integrated child and youth care services for child-headed households and vulnerable families,\u201d explained Wentzel.<\/p>\n
\u201cNCPPDSA\u2019s recommendations on the inclusion of children with disabilities into the Isibindi programme emphasises that the programme should make adequate provision for the identification, protection and advancement of the rights of children with disabilities,\u201d said Andre Kalis, NCPPDSA\u2019s officer heading up the division dealing with children and policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsibindi offers an ideal opportunity for holistically addressing the needs and challenges of children with disabilities, who find themselves in a seriously disadvantaged position. Such opportunity as we now have with the upscaling of Isibindi should be grasped.\u201d<\/p>\n
These are some of the recommendations made by NCPPDSA to Isibindi:<\/p>\n
\u201cNCPPDSA\u2019s lobbying role is fundamental to maintaining a national network of disability organisations that work together under the umbrella of the South African Disability Alliance (SADA),\u201d said Wentzel.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe majority of Casual Day\u2019s 12 national beneficiaries are also members of SADA, creating yet another opportunity for the disability sector to collaborate and speak with one voice.\u201d<\/p>\n
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