Registration of Persons with Disabilities
The Agency identifies and registers persons with disabilities countrywide. We conduct mobile registrations to cover persons with disabilities in the rural ares.
1.0 Who is a Persons with Disability?
According to the Disability Act No.6 of 2012 disability means a permanent physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory impairments that alone, or in combination with social environment barriers, hinders the ability of a person to fully or effectively participate in society on an equal basis with others.
Under the CRPD disability defined is an evolving concept that “results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society.
2.0 Why Does the Agency Register Persons with Disabilities?
The Persons with Disabilities Act Number 06 of 2012, Section 15 (ii) mandates the Agency to register Persons with Disabilities. Registration of persons with disabilities is important as it provides information for planning, promotion and administering of services to person with disabilities. It is for this reason that guidelines have been developed to ensure that persons with disabilities are aware of the registration process and enhance efficiency and coordination.
3.0 What are Objectives of Registering Persons with Disabilities?
- To keep the register of Persons with Disabilities to assist in planning, promoting, coordinating and administer services to all categories of Persons with Disabilities
- To inform the society on the importance of registering as a Person with Disability;
- To assist applicants of Disability Identity Card on the process involved in applying for disability; and
- To issue Disability Identity Card to upon proofing that the applicant has a disability.
4.0 What are the Benefits of the Disability Identity Card?
The Disability Identity Card is a legal document used to identify a Person with Disability, in the same manner as a Driving License (DL). In addition, the card is also used as proof of disability when such proof is required under any State law. If a Person with Disability has this card, he /she do not usually need to present further medical documentation of your disability. The card contains medical information helpful in emergency care. A person with Disabilities may present his/her a Disability ID card when applying for or importing assistive devices such as vehicles, manual and motorized wheelchairs, applying for a conventional tax exemption, or accessing social security services such as social cash transfer, women empowerment, youth empowerment and school bursaries..
5.0 What is the Vision of Registering Persons with Disabilities?
To have all Persons with Disabilities registered in Zambia
6.0 What are Guiding Principles?
The principles of the Individual Registration shall be:
(a) Respect inherent human and Dignity
(b) Decentralization
(c) Non-discrimination;
(d) Accessibility;
(f) Confidentiality
(e) Equality between men and women;
7.0 Eligibility Criteria
7.1 Who qualifies for the card?
A Person qualifies for the card only if he/she meet the definition of Person with a Disability under the Persons with Disability Act No.6 of 2016 Cap 65 of the Laws of Zambia. The term person with a disability means any person who is, and who is expected to indefinitely continue to be, subject to any of the following six (6) types of disabilities.
7.2 The six (6) types of disabilities are:
- Physical: a permanent physical loss, impairment, or disease, which significantly limits physical ability or motor skills.
- Developmental: a disability that is because of:
- An intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or autism; or
- Any other condition that results in impairment similar to that caused by an intellectual disability and requires services similar to those required by persons with intellectual disabilities. Such a disability must be expected to continue indefinitely, and create substantial functional performance limitations.
- Visual:blindness, and the term blindness means central vision acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the use of a correcting lens. An eye that is accompanied by a limitation in the fields of vision so that the widest diameter of the visual field subtends an angle no greater than 20 degrees shall be considered as having a central vision acuity of 20/200 or less.
- Hearing: A disability that results in complete absence of hearing, or that, even with a hearing aid, results in hearing so impaired that you need other kinds of sensory input as the principal means of receiving spoken language.
- Mental: a significant impairment of an individual’s cognitive, affective, or relational abilities that may require intervention and may be a recognized, medically diagnosable illness or disorder.
- Albinism results in a lack of pigmentation (melanin) in the hair, skin and eyes, causing vulnerability to the sun and bright light. As a result, almost all people with albinism are visually impaired and are prone developing skin cancer. There is no cure for the absence of melanin.
Beyond Barriers
7.3 How to Obtain a Disability Identification Card?
A Person with Disability can obtain the Identity Card from the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disability at the district or provincial office. Acquisition of the Disabled Person Identification Card is free. Applicants will be required to submit an application on the form supplied by the Director General of the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities to the District Coordinator or Provincial Coordinator.
7.4 BIO – DATA
The application includes the following information:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Gender
- Marital Status
- Number of Family Members
- Address
- National Registration Card (NRC)
- Occupation
- Level of education
- Nature of Disability
- Cause of Disability
- Degree of Disability
- District
- Province
- Nationality
8.0 Roles and Responsibilities
This section highlights the roles and responsibilities involved in registration of persons with disabilities. This programme is coordinated by the department of rehabilitation and research headed by the director of rehabilitation and research. The institutions involved in the registration of persons with disabilities include the Zambia Agency for Persons with Disabilities (ZAPD), Local Authority, Social Welfare, Heads of Learning Institutions, Central Statistics Officers and Official in Charge Health Centres.
- National level
- Policy formulation
- Managing and maintaining a register of persons with disabilities
- Setting provincial ceiling
- Procurement and distribution of material required for registration to provinces
- Resource mobilisation
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Setting of standards and guidelines
- Information dissemination and sensitization
- Advocacy
- Provide feedback to the province
- Stakeholder dialogue
- Provincial level
- Technical support
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Staff training
- Supervise districts
- Data aggregation
- Dispute resolution
- Processing of certificate of registration and distribution
- Consolidation of reports
- Provide feedback to the district
- Stakeholder dialogue
- Keeping a register of PWDs
- Receiving of applications from districts or applicants
- Resource mobilisation
- Information dissemination and sensitization
- Advocacy
2 District level.
- Facilitate the registration process to both individuals and relevant institutions (Local Authority, Social Welfare, Learning Institutions, Central Statistics Office and Health facilities)
- Receiving application forms from the applicants
- Submission of applications to the province
- Public awareness campaigns
- Facilitate the issuance Disability Certificates
- Enter or encode approved data
- Keeping a register of Persons with Disabilities
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Prepare reports
- Dispute resolution
- Stakeholder dialogue
Syncing Lives, Shaping Futures
9.0 Certification
The completed form will require certification by medical professionals to determine the nature and severity of disability. Your medical practitioner must state the type of your disability (physical, developmental, visual, hearing or mental) and class of your disability (see discussion of “class” of disability above). Once issued, the card expires in 10 years. You can apply for a one-time renewal, within 30 days after the expiration of the I.D. card. There is no fee to renew and the renewal is valid for another 5 years. Any other application that you file after that is considered an application for a new card.
9.1 Grouping Disability of the Applicant
Class 1: Any type of disability which:
- Does prevent you from engaging in some substantial gainful activity; or
- Does impair your ability to live independently or to work.
Class 1A: Just like a Class 1 disability, but your disability also prevents you from being able to walk 200 hundred feet or more without:
- The assistance of another person;
- The use of a walker, crutches, brace, wheelchair or other device; or
- Great discomfort or difficulty.
A Class 1A disability must be due to any of the following impairments: neurologic, orthopedic, mental, intellectual, arthritic, blindness or loss of function or absence of a limb.
Class 2: Any type of disability which:
- Prevents you from being able to engage in substantial gainful activity;
- Substantially impairs your ability to live independently without supervision or in-home support services; or
- Substantially impairs your ability to perform labor or services for which you are qualified or significantly restricts the labor or services you are able to perform.
Class 2A: Just like a Class 2 disability, but your disability also prevents you from being able to walk 200 hundred feet or more without:
- The assistance of another person;
- The use of a walker, crutches, brace, wheelchair or other device; or
- Discomfort or difficulty.
A Class 2A disability must be due to any of the following impairments: neurologic, orthopedic, respiratory, cardiac, arthritic, blindness, or loss of function or absence of a limb.
9.2 Other things to know
Once you obtain a card, you are required to notify the Director General in writing of any change in your:
- legal name (within 30 days after the change);
- address (within 10 days after the change) or
- type or class of disability (within 60 days after the change).
9.3 Rejection, revocation, or denial of an identification card
Application for an identification card may be denied if the Director General or any officer delegated to issue Disability Identity Card believes that the information supplied is false or incomplete, or the applicant is not eligible for it. If a Person with Disability already holds a card, it may be revoked if the Director General or any officer delegated believes that:
- The applicant supplied false information;
- The applicant is not a Person with A Disability as defined in the Act, or has failed to prove that he or she does not have a disability;
- If a Person with Disability use the card for a fraudulent purpose;
- If a Person with Disability allow someone else to use the card;
- A condition that is considered to be temporal, for example, a fracture of a body part;
- Those awaiting an operation which should improve their conditions or you are still recovering from recent surgery or treatment; or
- A persons with a condition that is considered to be intermittent
9.4 Appeal of the denial or revocation of an identification card
- If the applicant is denied an identification card or revoked, the aggrieved person has the right to file an appeal and have a hearing. The Director General shall hear the case or appoint an officer to hear the case. The complainant is entitled to be represented by parents, family members, friends, lawyers and he/she is allowed to present witnesses and other evidence. The aggrieved persons shall submit all the evidence relied to the Director General. Following the hearing, the Agency will issue a written decision.
- If the aggrieved person disagrees with the decision made at the hearing, he/she may file a complaint in the Magistrate Court of the county where they live.
This complaint must be filed no later than 35 days after the date that the hearing decision was issued. A magistrate will then review the decision.