Rights of the disabled will be recognised: Klapat
By NIDRA KEWERE MAPI
EMPOWERING people with disabilities through the national disability policy is the theme for this year’s National Disability Day which was staged at the Sir John Guise stadium last Friday.
Community Development secretary Joseph Klapat said this year’s celebrations will focus on the national disability policy, which is now before the National Executive Council (NEC) for endorsement.
He said an important attention of the policy was to shift the discussion in the country to recognising that people with disabilities should be empowered, have their rights recognised and that they should be included in the mainstream of social and economic life of the country.
“The policy together with its action plan provides a framework and guide for all governments, non-government organisations (NGOs), communities and stakeholders throughout PNG to work together in creating a rights-based, fully inclusive and barrier-free society for people with disabilities,” Mr Klapat said.
He said until recently, disability was strictly regarded as a welfare issue and the welfare approach defined disability as a problem possessed by individuals.
People with different forms of disabilities made their way to the stadium in recognition of the day despite the rain that morning.
Among them were members of the Defence Force, church groups, other organisations involved with assisting the disabled and staff of the community development office.
Mr Klapat said: “The policy addresses all people in the country and to all who have disabilities whether it be physical or mental including children, men and women and the elderly.”
He said based on international research conducted in a number of developed and developing countries, it was estimated that between 10% and 15% of the national population had some kind of disability.
He said this was consistent to the research conducted in PNG where it could be expected that between 250,000 and 600,000 people were living with disabilities.
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