… Outlines Plans For Disability Community
The National Commission on Disabilities (NCD) is calling on the Government of Liberia for more budgetary allotment as well as national and international non-governmental organizations.
Mr. Francis Sibley, Advocate for People with Disabilities (PWDs) speaking on the Super Morning Show on ELBC Radio on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, said there is a lot more they think should be done when it comes to PWDs and the National Commission on Disabilities.
Mr. Sibley joined the Executive Director of the National Commission of Disabilities and others on the Super Morning Show to speak on a wide range of issues and challenges faced by the disability community across Liberia.
According to Mr. Seblay, they have already identified a few challenges that the disability community has faced over the years ranging from accessibility, job opportunities for PWDs, and education among others.
Mr. Seblay indicated that if you look at the current Act that established the NCD, it is responsible for and to the needs of PWDs.
Mr. Seblay recalled that the past budget of the Commission was almost a million dollars but unfortunately, it has been reduced to a little over two hundred thousand United States Dollars which tells them that it is to only buy fuel for the institution generator and pay staff and what will happen for over 13.23% of persons living with disability across the country.
“What we think and want to keep pushing is to call on the National government to prioritize more activities of PWDs,” he said.
The PWDs advocate emphasized that people with disability are not to be perceived as charity or pity and gone are the days where people always give them handouts.
Mr. Seblay asserted that it is important that PWDs be empowered through budgetary allotment of the Commission and to enable them to get involved with more projects that will benefit the lives of PWDs by giving them skills.
“Some of the disabled people who are begging in the streets for handouts have skills and they can make something with their hands to sell and if these things we are pushing for are done through the national budget you will see these individuals becoming independent and very important in the society and not being a liability,” he noted.
Additionally, Mr. Seblay highlighted that Section 5 of the NCD Act says that of every 100 employees at government ministries and agencies, 4% should be PWD employed at that ministry or agency as such in 2012, former President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf at one of her cabinet meetings proclaimed that every ministry and agency director should follow suit but unfortunately, they didn’t see that happening in the past administration and that is what they are pushing for this time around.
Mr. Seblay also mentioned that unfortunately, Liberia has no specific policy on PWDs when it comes to their empowerment and livelihoods.
Referring to the United Nations Convention on the Right of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) passed by the UN General Assembly in 2006, he said it is holding state parties who signed including Liberia to uphold the convention especially the 50 Articles and the 18 optional protocols emphasizing that these can only be possible if national government prioritize the NCD issues by making necessary provisions and accommodations.
“Because we are often victims of systemic and environmental discrimination where in Liberia people see you to be disabled first before your ability. We are most of the time being discriminated against just by physical appearances so, we are calling on the government of Liberia to help us since it is here to do well in these six years. What we need is a more budgetary allotment, even national and international non-governmental organizations can help; we have a couple of projects that we have written out there and looking forward to but the national government can start,” he said.
For his part, the Executive Director of the National Commission on Disabilities, Mr. Samuel Dean speaking on several plans for the Commission said they want to invoke social policies that the disability community resembles and have championed.
Mr. Dean said he was one of the founders of the disability roadmap that was adopted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) called ‘National Action Plan for PWDS’.
He revealed that the only difference with the National Action Plan for PWDS’ is that it is open while the Commission is closed and from the grassroots.
“Most people think that PWDs are charity recipients, but we are not; we are regular people like everybody else and deserve human rights so the Commission like the Independent Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is a complete entity we want that for NCD meaning, we will have 5 commissioners and executive director,” he said.
He continued: “PWDs cannot compete with regular people for vehicles so it is incumbent on this government and we are appealing to them to provide vehicles for our staff or buses”.
Meanwhile, he pointed out that the new leader of the Commission envisages several developments including having their own home, training and empowerment for PWDs, accessibility and sound language for PWDs and as well 10 million budgets for the Commission to enable them to address issues in the disability community.
“Our budget is a little over a quarter million, it used to be almost 1 million,” he said.
