Government and the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD) have urged parents and guardians who are in the habit of hiding children with disabilities to stop doing so.
Community Development and Social Services Minister Olipa Phiri said disabled children should not be locked up and left alone in homes.
She noted that in most cases, children with disabilities are left in houses at the expense of being in school.
Ms. Phiri said in Nyimba yesterday that all well-meaning members of the community should report parents and guardians who hide their disabled children to relevant authorities.
She said even fathers who abandon their disabled children in the district should be reported to authorities.
She stated that no child or older person with a disability should be left out of every level of development in society.
Ms. Phiri said this when she and ZAPD officials donated assorted items to persons living with disabilities in Nyimba district in Eastern province.
The donated items included wheel chairs, clothing, blankets, goats and cash to help alleviate sufferings of people with disabilities.
And ZAPD Director General Julian Mwape said people with disabilities need special care in society.
And Ms. Mwape challenged all persons with disabilities to prove to communities that they can do what every human being is able to do once given an opportunity.
She said there is need for enhanced awareness among families and communities on the importance of caring for disabled people.
