By Kidega Livingstone
Persons living with disabilities (PWDs) in South Sudan have called on the government to ensure their equitable representation in all sectors of the country.
During an exclusive interview, Alfred Lemi, a member of the Union of People Living with Disability in Central Equatoria State, highlighted the lack of adequate representation of PWDs in both government institutions and private sectors.
“People without disabilities have all the percentage representation in all the sectors, including women; however, our percentage is missing in the presentations in most of the government institutions and private sectors,” Lemi said.
Lemi stressed that PWDs have the right to participate fully in the development of the country and called for a 15% representation to ensure their voices are heard.
“Our voice now cannot be heard because of no percentage representing people living with disability. We need our percentage to stand at 15% because we have right to participate fully in any development of this country,” he added.
Earlier, Edmund Yakani, the Executive Director of the Community Empowerment Progress Organization, welcomed the inclusion of PWDs in the National Legislative Assembly but emphasized the need for their representation in all sectors, including health, culture, and education.
Yakani also urged the government and the public to refrain from using outdated and derogatory language when referring to PWDs, such as “persons with special needs” or “disabled people.”
“Our constitution is describing persons with disabilities as persons with special needs, which is totally wrong. Our leaders went as far as describing them as disabled people, which is critically not needed as per the adjectives applied,” Yakani said.
The activist called on parliamentarians to swiftly correct the language used in the constitution to accurately reflect the rights and dignity of PWDs.
Yakani further emphasized the importance of allocating appropriate budget resources at the national and state levels to address the specific priorities and needs of PWDs, ensuring they are treated as equal citizens.