Mexico and South Africa. A Multidisciplinary View on Disabilities

As part of a solid internationalization policy, UNAM’s Rector, Dr. Enrique Graue Wiechers, inaugurated in 2018 the 14th foreign office*, in this occasion, with the first Center for Mexican Studies in the African continent, at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. The University of Wits, as it is commonly known, is among the top five universities of South Africa and the African continent.

Within the framework of UNAM’s academic commitment to discrimination, gender, diversity and non-violence, the South African office is organizing a workshop during the months of September, October and November 2022 to analyze, discuss and reflect on issues related to disabilities in Mexico and South Africa. Academics, specialists and people with disabilities will participate in this workshop, in different areas that include academia, culture and sports.

Disabilities represent an issue on which progress has been slowly made. The creation of spaces for reflection, expression, dissemination and support is necessary to make visible the problems that face people with different disabilities: sensory and communication, motor, and mental. With this workshop it is expected to generate awareness and reach a better understanding of the existing needs, challenges and achievements that both UNAM and Wits have envisioned, for the sake of a more inclusive university.

While one may think that there is a collective awareness about what disabilities are, the very concept of disability is also questionable. An example of this is provided by English, one of the different languages spoken in South Africa, in which there is a conceptual difference between the ideas of disability and handicap. The first refers to what cannot be changed and is individual in each person, while the second is more focused on the limitations that socially have been generated by a misconception of disability.

Different organizations have outlined concepts of disability. It is generally accepted that disabilities can occur congenitally or acquired, i.e. they can exist from birth or be caused by an accident or illness. This means that all people can face a disability at some point in life.

BACKGROUND TO THE SOCIAL APPROACH TO DISABILITIES
The political inclusion of persons with disabilities began last century; laws, sports and technologies were adapted to broaden the landscape and achieve their integration. The theme has such relevance at the international level that commemorative days of disabilities have been instituted internationally, to strengthen social awareness about them.

The most important disabilities-days in the year
To close the international panorama on the rights of people with disabilities, the documents that have been promoted, and those that are planned for the future take special care in addressing the possibilities of access, education, employment, maintenance of income and social security, family life and personal integrity, culture, recreational and sports activities, and religion.

MEXICO, UNAM AND DISABILITIES
In Mexico’s Political Constitution, the term disability is mentioned twice, to refer to the prohibition of discrimination and the economic support guaranteed by the State for persons who have any of these conditions.

Different specialized institutions have been established to provide support, such as the Institute for Persons with Disabilities in Mexico City, the National System for the Integral Development of the Family and the Integration to the Development of Persons with Disabilities unit, which provides specialized treatment in Mexico City.

The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) classified different types of disabilities into four categories: sensory and communication, motor, mental, multiple and others. These, in turn, are classified into subgroups with the intention of encompassing as many people as possible and considering to provide them with the best supports and services that meet their accessibility rights.

UNAM, Mexico’s leading university, has been concerned with supporting the disabled population so that they have access to a dignified and unlimited education. To this end, it has created instances that address the problems and events that invite reflection and promote the support of the university community.

In 2013, the Care Unit for Persons with Disabilities (UNAPDI) was created. It generated a Guide to Support and Care Services for People with Disabilities at UNAM that can be accessed on its website (https://unapdi.unam.mx/) and which aims to help students integrate into academic activities, sports and cultural, as well as access to transport, technological and human services. Inclusion at UNAM is also visible in the creation of texts such as the Guide to the Rights and Duties of UNAM Students in Braille.

It is important to highlight that the Guide to Supports and Services clearly addresses the procedure for admitting a person with disabilities to the facilities and programs of the University, and, although it has not been easy to find information regarding the care provided after the person is admitted and throughout their study or work process, it does include support from the staff of the University Job Exchange in terms of advice and tools for incorporation into the labor market. This service is specific to people with disabilities and is in contact with other inclusive organizations that also provide advice and support.

Some spaces in the university have been modified to have specialized technologies, such as computers with Windows Eye (a technology that allows you to control the system with your eyes) and a series of publications in Braille. There is also an Audio-Innovation Laboratory for People with Disabilities; all the above, added to the adaptation of ramps and installation of elevators in the different schools, institutes and recreational spaces.

Finally, UNAM has a Committee for Attention to People with Disabilities (CADUNAM), present in academic entities such as the School of Philosophy and Literature, the School of Political and Social Sciences, the National School of Social Work and the General Directorate of Sports and Recreational Activities.

SOUTH AFRICA, WITS AND DISABILITY
One of the most important changes in South Africa’s recent history has been the end of apartheid, the regime of racial segregation that prevailed between 1948 and 1992. This part of history brought political, social and cultural changes that also affected the law on treatment of people with disabilities.

The history of addressing this issue in the African country begins when the United Nations Organization declared the Year of Persons with Disabilities in 1981, despite the fact that the South African government decided not to recognize it, and that the population responded with mobilizations in favor of disability issues. The result was the founding of the South African Disability Rights Movement/Independent Living Movement (DRM/ILM), whose leadership was led by people with disabilities.

It was not until 1986 that South Africa established its National Year of Disability, although before that the Interdepartmental Coordination Committee on Disability (ICCD) was created, tasked with advising the government on the 1982 World Programme of Action concerning Persons with Disabilities. After this and until 1992 there was not much progress.

The apartheid regime was based on inequality, making it difficult for newly formed groups to act politically. As it was terminated, the South African Letter of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was launched as a proposal by the disabled population itself.

In 1995 the presidency established the Disability Programme in the Ministry of Reconstruction and Development Programme. The following year, Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, declared that the new constitution would help establish more egalitarian relations (although disability only appears in an article of the constitution that prohibits any kind of discrimination, whether direct or indirect, against people with disabilities).

One of the last developments on the issue of disability in the political sphere was in 2014, when the functions of disability coordination were transferred to the Department of Social Development.

The University of the Witwatersrand, for its part, has a Disability Rights Unit (DRU) that helps students with any of these conditions to obtain the necessary accommodations to access academic and non-academic programs, and that also contributes to the awareness about the difficulties that these people have in everyday life, in order to generate more inclusive learning and working environments. The DRU takes into account visual, physical, hearing, learning, psychological, speech, chronic diseases and painful conditions, with seizure disorders, and temporary impairments (such as broken limbs; affected individuals may request services for the duration of their disqualification).

Among the activities carried out by the DRU is the support to teachers who request it, for a greater approach and better experience for the benefit of students with disabilities. Talks are offered, as well as a digital guide with recommendations for teachers, corresponding to various disabling conditions.

Wits also has agreements with third parties interested in granting scholarships or other financial support to people with disabilities. To achieve greater reach of this type of calls, they are published on their official social networks. The University of Wits has several documents that not only support its students with disabilities, but also provide legal protection to its workers, and produce an annual report that statistically reports on their actions.

In terms of technology, Wits has been very supportive of its students with disabilities by incorporating literacy support and voice recognition software, Braille displays, loop systems (decision support) and eye trackers, among other technologies, in addition to having a testing and training center.

For new students, DRU has an orientation program in which students with disabilities, particularly with visual and physical impairments, receive physical orientation, computer training, mobility training, and other essential skills.
People with disabilities, in addition, have all the rights of other students. They are encouraged to participate in sports activities and are considered for lodgings within the university residences that are adapted to their needs.

Finally, on the website of the DRU (https://www.wits.ac.za/disability-rights-unit/) you can find two maps with the signals for the entrances for people with disabilities, among other services, as well as the areas of incidence of their activities: exams, adaptive technology, neurodiversity and mental health, and South African sign language.

MEXICO AND SOUTH AFRICA CONFERENCE: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY LOOK AT DISABILITY.
This takes place throughout 2022 and will culminate on December 3, that is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Within its framework, infographics, informative capsules, talks and conversations have been developed among students and academics, presentations and conferences. The day has three specific axes: culture, academia and sports, and a microsite has been created that will serve as a repository of all the events that take place (https://sudafrica.unam.mx/)

* UNAM’s South African Office was created before Seattle Oficce closed; today there are 13 offices abroad.

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