Dr Peta: First Zim to obtain Disability Studies PhD

Dr Christine Peta raised the flag of Zimbabwe high by becoming the first Zimbabwean to obtain a PhD in Disability Studies, and the third person on the Continent of Africa to obtain such a qualification.

Dr Peta returned to Zimbabwe from the diaspora in 2018, under a Government of Zimbabwe-UNICEF partnership, to lead the process of making the first National Disability Policy of Zimbabwe, thus contributing greatly towards providing a clear roadmap for disability practice in the country.

A world-renowned disability, policy, research and international development expert, Dr Peta has a heart for disability issues, which dates back to her childhood years.

She has given her life to serving persons with disabilities in both rural and urban areas, including in difficult circumstances such as the 2019 Cyclone Idai period and the COVID-19 period which started when the “virus” arrived in Zimbabwe in March 2020.

During both the Cyclone Idai and COVID-19 periods, Dr. Peta put the needs and concerns of persons with disabilities ahead of hers, in scenarios where she directly interacted and assisted affected persons, including at grassroots level.

She also works to enhance the health and wellbeing of people who acquire disabilities because of landmines, which were planted by colonial forces during the war of liberation.

There is evidence that Dr. Peta negotiates the complexities of the multilayered and multidimensional disability and development terrain with remarkable empathy, passion, humility, flexibility, expertise and determination.

In championing the rights of persons with disabilities, Dr. Peta persistently talks about disability issues – on radio, television, in print media, on social media, on the phone and through one-on-one interaction with others.

She has written a book, book chapters and papers that have been published in scientific journals and that are being used as learning resources, including in universities throughout the world. Dr. Peta is a writer for the Sunday Mail, which publishes her disability articles every week.

Clad with humbleness and adjustability, one can find Dr. Peta sitting under a tree talking to women and children with disabilities or landmine victims with disabilities in a rural community, or making a presentation in a city boardroom with high level executives, or participating in international dialogue on disability rights in the main auditorium of the UN headquarters in New York.

Dr Peta later became the first substantive National Director of Disability Affairs, a position that was created by the Disabled Persons Act (Chapter 17:01) of 1992, but which had been vacant for 28 years, due to lack of the required expertise.

Peta has contributed greatly towards the whole of government and whole of society approach on disability issues, thus fostering closer and orderly tripartite relations between 1) government, 2) organizations of persons with disabilities, and 3) international development partners that include UN Agencies, CBM Global, CBM International and Sight Savers among others. She has been instrumental in creating a place of convergence for all disability actors.

In the SADC region, Dr. Peta works closely with the African Union (AU) Southern Africa Youth Council-Disability Chapter, which is headed by a fellow Zimbabwean with disability, Ambassador Nyasha Nhau, and which focuses on enhancing the wellbeing of SADC youth with disabilities by using a twin-track approach of mainstreaming disability in various thematic areas as well as establishing targeted disability projects.

She is also the:

Chairperson of the State Service Disablement Benefits Board under the State Service (Disability Benefits) Act (Chapter 16:05),

Ex-officio member of the National Disability Board under the Disabled Persons Act (Chapter 17:01).

Chairperson of the National Technical Committee on Disability Inclusion which comprises representatives from all government ministries, organizations of persons with disabilities and development partners that include UN agencies.

Co-chairperson of the “Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Persons with Disabilities Thematic Working Group” under the National Financial Inclusion Strategy II

Co-chairperson of the National Technical Working Group on Disability and Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), gender-based violence (GBV), HIV/AIDS and harmful practices (HP),Focal person of the United Nations Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNPRPD).