Members of Parliament have called for infrastructure, including roads and other public facilities, to be made accessible to visually impaired persons and for visually impaired persons to be fully included in the country's democratic processes.
The calls followed an initiative by the Namibia Federation of Visually Impaired, which allowed MPs to experience some of the challenges faced by people with visual impairments in their daily lives.
As part of the initiative, MPs took part in a blindfold exercise designed to give them a better understanding of how visually impaired people navigate their surroundings and carry out everyday activities.
The experience has prompted MPs to highlight the need for greater accessibility and inclusion, both in public infrastructure and in civic and democratic participation.
"For example, what I have come across from my appointment in this ministry is that there is a force for local government to find that when towns are designing roads or streets, there is no portion of the road that is designed for physically challenged people. No pavement; they just design roads," said MURD Minister James Sankwasa.
IPC MP John-Louw Mouton adds, "I think what caught me by surprise is you have this need to; I just want to open my eyes to quickly see where you are, and then you realise that these persons never have that capability, and I mean, losing your sight, or not being able to see, is one of the worst senses to lose, and it really limits a person. So to kind of put yourself in that shoes is really an enlightening experience, and it makes you realise that we can't leave any Namibian behind, right?"
"I think it's good if we can also know how the other people feel, and it's where you can also think about how these people go through this kind of difficulty. But the empathy must be there; you will feel it. And then I think it's very good. But now my question is, why are the Namibians not here also? Giving them a chance to participate in the parliament," said NDP leader Martin Lukato.
"Just remind people that we shouldn't really treat our people or our visually impaired people as objects to charities because, to understand, we don't really have a straight budget for them. We allow our people to be begging here and there for them to have resources so that they can fund their activities," stated AR MP Tuhafeni Kalola.
Director of the Namibia Federation of Visually Impaired, Moses Nghipandulwa, said the objective of the initiative is to raise awareness and provide leaders with information about the rights and needs of persons with disabilities.
"We are talking about inclusivity. And inclusivity alone is not really enough just by mentioning it, but it really takes somebody to understand it, to feel it, and then again it will take somebody to again champion it. And with you today, this moment, our leaders, we really would want to do the same, raise awareness together so that you give a very good example to the Namibian nations.'