Not all Disabilities are Visible says JONAPWD
Covenant Oluchi Ikedinobi
The Joint Association of Persons with Disabilities ( JONAPWD) Anambra State chapter has revealed that the Anambra state Government is committed on issues facing persons with disabilities in the state.
This was revealed during a press conference to commemorate the international day of persons with disabilities ( IDPWD) 2020 with Theme” Not all Disabilities are Visible”.
Special Adviser to the Governor on disability matters Barr. Chuks Ezewuzie in his remarks appreciated the state government for it’s total inclusiveness on disability matters.
Barr Ezewuzie said no other state in the country has goten to the peak of relevance at which Anambra State had reached.
He said the state has embarked on the establishment of disability right law implementation with the setting up of a committee as a step towards the formation of disability right commission .
He said further that persons with disabilities have been given the autonomous power to access any public building as law on construction of balanced building has been made thereby making movement accessible for them.
He said that the educational sector of the state is not left behind as sign language has been included in the state academic curricular as a broad way to fasten communication skills among people with disability.
He added that the state right law has added sanction for parents or guardians who denied persons with disability, especially now scholarship programs for them have been added .
Contributing, the Chairman of JONAPWD, Comrade Ugochukwu Okeke, who reiterated that the quick implementation of the disability right commission is all they needed, as the commission will enhance their livelihood.
The financial secretary of JONAPWD Mrs Nwanokwara Ncheta later informed that severe effect of covid 19 on them, as they are majorly affected due to there underlying conditions but informed that they have continued to observe covid 19 rules of living.
Speaking on media and disability etiquettes, Miss Ajemba Chidinma emphasized on how persons with disability should be addressed and reported as words like deaf and dumb, handicap, physically challenge, retarded, imbecile and others sounds derogatory and as such should be replaced with people with disability, speech impeded, movement impeded and physical disabled. She urged people not to ask them stories behind there disability as they find it offensive, unless they initiated the discussion.
She further advised people to ask them what they needed before providing, as helping before asking looks offensive to them.
Mr. Nwagwu Amobi who spoke on disabilities and access to justice emphasized on the need of some security men like the police to learn sign language as some hearing impeded and speech impeded will be able to communicate their report effectively as they are part of the society.
He further advised the members of the public to collaborate well with people with disability and also enroll into sign language skills school as more hands are needed in that field.
The coordinator of the violence against persons prohibition and implementation committee Mrs Okoye Hope Nkeiruka said that there is difficulty in understanding sign language by some persons with disabilities which have deprived them of reporting their challenges. She also clarified the stakeholders on how to handle such issues.
Also present was the representative from the Human Rights commission Anambra State chapter, Mr. Obinna Okorochi who applauded the intriguing effort of the chairman of JONAPWD even as he assures the Organization of there undying efforts in making sure that sanity and balanced livelihood is achieved via their support.
