Adolescents and youth with disabilities, and adolescents living with and affected by HIV empowered on HIV and Sexual & Reproductive Health and Rights

UNAIDS Namibia in collaboration with the Namibian National Association of the Deaf (NNAD) and National Federation of People with Disabilities in Namibia (NFPDN) with the support of UNICEF and UNFPA recently facilitated a two-day workshop on HIV and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) in Windhoek, as part of the 2gether4SRHR initiative.

The workshop provided a safe platform for adolescents to interact and share key issues, successes and challenges that they face, for enhanced programming to address gaps in the HIV response, and to strengthen linkages between adolescents with disabilities and other adolescents, including those living with and affected by HIV to strengthen inclusion and partnerships.

The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted access to life-saving sexual and reproductive and other health services for adolescents, especially those with disabilities and   those living and affected by with HIV. The COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted access to life-saving sexual and reproductive and other health services for adolescents, especially those with disabilities and   those living and affected by with HIV.

In her opening remarks, Dr Alti Zwandor, UNAIDS Namibia Country Director, encouraged participants to actively contribute during the workshop and continue engaging in programmes for and with youth and adolescents to end inequalities. “I hope that your views, suggestions, and recommendations from this workshop will inform the outcome document that will be developed to provide guidance on gender-transformative and human rights-based interventions for adolescents with disabilities in Namibia."

" I therefore urge you to be as free, open, and frank as possible,” said Dr Zwandor.

Among other challenges, the lack of sign language interpreters and skills is a big concern in Namibia as interpreters are usually fully booked when needed by the hearing-impaired community. This was also highlighted by the Namibia Planned Parenthooh Association (NAPPA), a youth friendly service provider for sexual and reproductive health (SRH) care and support.

This continues to limit access to health and other social and essential services, leaving people with disabilities behind. “We often get discouraged to seek services from health facilities as there are no sign language interpreters to communicate our needs to healthcare workers and information hardly reaches us," said Martha, an adolescent with hearing impairment. Participants emphasized the need for the inclusion of adolescents with disabilities in the HIV and COVID-19 responses to ensure that people with disabilities access quality and equitable health services.   

UNAIDS has long advocated for a three-track approach to advance the inclusion of people with disabilities in the HIV response, being:

• Disability-specific activities and mainstreaming disability across all aspects of HIV responses.
• Participation and active involvement of people with disabilities in all programme elements.
• Disability-inclusive policies, programmes and implementation strategies that ensure appropriate funding and resources.

UNAIDS Namibia calls for all partners to use the social model, which acknowledges that the current inequalities are not due to peoples’ disability or vulnerability, but the inability of society to eliminate barriers challenging persons with disabilities. This will ensure inclusive development and programming for adolescents and youth so that they benefit from available services, and that the social and structural barriers that prevent young people from accessing HIV services are removed.

Speaking on behalf of the NFPDN, Mr. Orben Muluti calls for communities to start practicing equity and not equality.

“Equity will help us move to a better world, where all societal systems recognize the issues of people with disabilities and work collectively with them to mainstream disability in all aspects of life.” said Muluti.

In closing, the NNAD Director, Mr Paul Nanyeni highlighted the limited communication modalities for people with disabilities and emphasised the need to strengthen joint advocacy for the inclusion of sign language as an official language in Namibia.

The workshop was facilitated by various partners including AfriYAN Namibia, Regain Trust, NAPPA, Youth Empowerment Group (YEG), UNFPA, UNICEF and UNAIDS. The outcome document will be shared with all stakeholders for accelerated action for HIV and SRHR programming for adolescents with disabilities.