The Minister in her address briefed about the programme and policies undertaken by the government for ensuring a better life for the people with disabilty and at the same time she urged the civil society to cooperate with the Government and its initiatives for the well being of the people with disabilities.
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Physical disability constitutes 36.3 per cent of the population with disability followed by blindness/low vision (18.5 per cent), deaf/hard to hearing (15.4 per cent), speech problem (11.5 per cent), multiple disability (7.5 per cent), mental disability (6 per cent), intellectual disability (2.9 per cent) and deaf-blind (1.8 per cent). “There have been a number of disabled people who have done exceptionally well in various fields, they are an inspiration for all of us”, said Jaitley. It is also an occasion to become more educated about what we can do to promote and advocate for persons with disabilities.
The “Persons with Disabilities Guide” was launched on Thursday as part of The City’s recognition for International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
Mr Dennis Okoro, the Director, MTN Foundation, said taking care of persons with disabilities was part of the sustainable development goals.
Furthermore, it entrenches the affirmative action on principle to facilitate the progressive realisation of at least five per cent of persons with disability in elective and appointive posts. The Election Act 2011 seeks to ensure the right to vote for persons with disability is protected and fulfilled. The awardees included a nine-year old girl, Katibenla from Nagaland, who suffers from 100 percent locomotor disability but has defied her disability to practice vocal music. Those living with intellectual or psychosocial disability continue to be locked away in psychiatric institutions. He also pointed out that lack of proper infrastructure in schools as a reason behind poor performance by students with disabilities.
As per campaign drafted by Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, at least 10 percent of the of government owned public transport carriers in the country will be converted into fully accessible carriers for these persons by March 2018.
In Kenya people with disability face discrimination at nearly every turn.
People with visual disabilities, for instance, have to contend with rash drivers, the lack of auditory signals to indicate a change in traffic lights and uneven footpaths in which their walking sticks can get stuck. SmartSeat is a device that notifies wheelchair users when they have been sitting in the same position for too long by using force sensors connected to a mobile app, thereby helping these users prevent pressure sores. (Why 11? It’s a play on “a11y”, tech-speak for “accessibility.”) Much of the accessibility work we do is driven by passionate Googlers from around the world. We need to value people with disability for their individual skills, talents and contributions.
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“The definition of disability right now is very limited and includes only seven disabilities”. It was originally called “International Day of Disabled Persons”. These disparities were extensively documented in the Canadian Human Rights Commission’s 2012 Report on Equality Rights of People with Disabilities.
