Crucial Meeting Held with Parliamentarians to Unpack the Persons with Disabilities Bill

On March 28, 2025, the Centre for Applied Legal Research (CALR) was invited to unpack the Persons with Disabilities Bill H.B. 2 of 2023.  The meeting was convened by UNDP and UNICEF Zimbabwe working in partnership with the Office of the Clerk of Parliament. The Persons with Disabilities Bill aims to replace the outdated Disabled Persons Act [Chapter 17:01]. It proposes to establish an independent Commission for Persons with Disabilities and also seeks to align Zimbabwe’s laws with international standards like the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD).

Key stakeholders, including the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office (RCO), UNDP, the National Association of Societies for the Care of the Handicapped (NASCOH), the Federation of Organisations of Disabled People in Zimbabwe (FODPZ) and the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare, attended the meeting.

Parliamentarians lauded CALR’s role in simplifying the Bill’s provisions as it enhanced their technical understanding of the proposed changes. However, they indicated that more needs to be done to lobby and capacitate other members of parliament who will deliberate and argue on the bill’s provisions at the Committee Stage.

NASCOH emphasised alignment with the African Disability Protocol thereby advocating for robust protections against discrimination and enhanced representation of PWDs in governance systems. FODPZ called for an autonomous commission, remedies for rights violations and the removal of stigmatising language from the bill.

CALR also outlined the proposed amendments which were presented in the National Assembly on the 20^th of March 2025.  These amendments included the extension of the disabilities definition to cover epilepsy and albinism, ensuring the commission’s independence and strengthening enforcement mechanisms. The amendments also proposed the replacement of the “Assistance Fund” with a “National Disability Fund.”

The Bill is a cornerstone of operationalising the National Disability Policy of Zimbabwe