‘Don’t leave out disabled people’

THE National Population and Housing Census 2010 must give particular attention to people with disabilities,  National Board for Disable Persons (NBDP) chairman Brown Kapi says.
“The government and the National Statistical Office (NSO) must ensure that officials conducting the census in July record the type of disabilities of each person.
“Particular attention must be taken to include all disabled persons in the census so that NBDP and its partners, including donor agencies, can respond better to the needs of the disabled in future,” Mr Kapi said.
In letter addressed to NSO last Monday, Mr Kapi requested acting National Statistician Joseph Aka to separate data collection for people living with disabilities in the 2010 census.
In the letter, he also requested NSO to prepare a separate questionnaire to include specific questions that identify the different types of disabilities and to further design and register the forms of disabilities.
“The Government should have a budget or funding to accommodate people with disabilities who make up less than half of the total population.
“The Government can then manage to fully cater for their needs if proper data is recorded, planning is done and a budget is prepared,” he said.
Mr Kapi said the NBDP was willing to be involved in the formulation of the section of the questionnaire regarding people with disabilities.
He said the deliberation by Mr Aka and his group at NSO on the issue would be a benchmark for the betterment of those with dissabilities and promotion of their participation in the mainstream activities, systems and sectors of nation building processes.