Malawi Council for the Handicapped staff in child safety training
Malawi Council for the Handicapped (Macoha) has instituted child safety guidelines for children with disabilities as one way of improving service delivery field staff and volunteers.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of a training workshop for field staff for Central Region in Salima on Monday, Macoha executive director Peter Ngomwa said the guidelines were developed to ensure that Macoha staff observe the best safety standards’ when dealing with children with disabilities.
“The document was formulated to equip our staff and volunteers with child safety skills they should apply in the course of their job,” he pointed out.
Ngomwa said Macoha as a regulatory body needs to set a good example and standards as it promotes the welfare of people with disabilities.
Community-Based Management (CBM) programmes officer Frank Maliko said CBM has put the guidelines as a prerequisite for funding its partner organisations.
“It is true that CBM is funding the process of formulating and dissemination of the guidelines for children with disabilities. It is a precondition for us to fund our partners,” he said.
CBM is an international organisation that funds programmes supporting people with disabilities.
About 370 Macoha staff nationwide will be trained in the safety guidelines
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Technically the word “handicap” means a condition in which part of your body or mind has been permanently damaged or does not work normally. This word is old fashioned, offensive and derogatory. The word emphasises the inabilities of an individual and not their potential. The word is now considered offensive by many people, who prefer the word disability.