By Vaye Lepolu
The National Commission on Disabilities (NCD) was established in 2005 as a government agency in Liberia with a statutory mandate to oversee the welfare and well-being of all persons with disabilities across the country.
Since its establishment, the NCD has struggled to meet the expectations of beneficiaries and their families. This is not due to a lack of competency or qualifications of its predecessors, but rather a result of limited resource allocation over the years, which has primarily focused on recurrent expenditures such as salaries and office equipment.
The Executive Director of the National Commission on Disabilities (NCD), Samuel C. Dean, is now calling on the Liberian government to prioritize disability inclusion in public offices nationwide to alleviate hardships faced by the disabled community.
Dean emphasized the importance of employing disabled individuals in government institutions and ministries to ensure complete job inclusivity. He highlighted the fact that the children of disabled persons often resort to begging on the streets due to the lack of job opportunities within the disabled community.
The NCD boss proposed that the government should aim to have at least five persons with disabilities employed in various government ministries and agencies throughout Liberia.
Furthermore, Dean stressed the need for the teaching of sign language in all public and private schools across the country. He noted that incorporating sign language into school curricula would greatly benefit deaf and mute individuals by enabling them to understand classroom instruction effectively.
Dean also highlighted other challenges faced by the disabled community, such as limited access to education, skills training, employment opportunities, assistive technologies, and devices. He pointed out that the current national education curriculum and Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) programs are not inclusive enough to accommodate learners with visual or hearing impairments.
Also, he appealed to the Liberian government to address the pressing issues affecting the disabled community and work towards creating a more inclusive and supportive environment for individuals with disabilities.
