‘New era’ of support

THE launch of the Real Inclusion Disability Engagement (Ride) is the beginning of a new era of funding support for the disabled in Papua New Guinea, Australian High Commissioner Jon Philp says.
The launch also marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD).
“IDPD is an important day for everyone to start promoting and understanding people with disabilities and encourage support their dignity, rights and well-being,” he said.
“The launch of this project comes at a very important time for PNG as it continues to deal with the challenges posed by the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and people with disabilities are often hit the hardest by health, economic and social impacts of a pandemic. “People with disabilities are the experts in disability inclusion and should be engaged as partners, not just beneficiaries, in everything that affects them,
“We should recognise them as leaders, experts and participants in our international development and humanitarian programmes.”
Philp said Ride was a two-year project aimed at improving the well-being and empowerment of persons with disabilities and to strengthen disabled people’s organisations’ capacity to advocate for their rights.
The Australian government has been assisting the PNG to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention of the rights of persons with disabilities and to review and update the PNG disability policy.