The Kismayu Disability Association has come out to castigate what they termed as “absolute side lining and negligence” by both the state and the federal government in resource sharing and inclusion.
The disability association said the people living with disabilities in Kismayo are not being offered employment opportunities by the government as well as non-government organizations working in Jubbaland.
The Deputy chairman of the Disability Association, Hussein Farah Dirir, told Radio Kismayo that people living with disabilities in Jubbaland do not receive due consideration from every end.
“We are not participating in both the state and the federal sponsored trainings, we are not in government jobs, we are not getting the respect we deserve,” Said Hussein Dirir
Hussein Dirir said that they are pushing for laws which if it sails through will give them equal opportunities as the rest and gives them the much needed shot in the arm and see to it that people with disabilities are not denied their rights and entitlements.
“We want to push for laws on disability in Somalia to be effective and the disabled community become part of the country’s institutions. We want us to be recognized and given our rightful jobs and entitlements”, Said Hussein Dirir.
He however, commended the efforts the Jubbaland Ministry of Education and Higher learning and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) are taking in helping many children living with disabilities in the education sector though much needs to be done. He pointed out that the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) has also felt the plight of the disabled and its the only NGO addressing the plight of the disabled community in the society by establishing a school for 110 children with special needs in Kismayu.
BY OSMAN HUSSEIN ALI
