By Sulaiman Jalloh
In a significant move to implement radical inclusion, the ministry of social welfare has on Thursday, November 28, 2024 at the Freetown city council basement ended a one-day townhall meeting with the theme “Transforming solutions for inclusion development. The rope of innovation in building an accessible and equitable Sierra Leone in fulfilment of the big five (5) game changers for persons with disabilities” aimed at building disability inclusive processes in Sierra Leone.
In his opening statement as chairman of the program, minister of Information and Civic Education Chernor Bah said disability issues concerns everyone in the country hence the introduction of radical inclusion.
Delivering the keynote address, Mohamed Lamin Tarawally Esq., Sierra Leone’s Attorney general and minister of Justice assured the public about the strides government has undertaken to ensure that no-one is left behind especially persons with disability, noting with the townhall meeting the minister of Social Welfare has created the enabling environment for unanswerable questions to be asked.
The attorney general noted that, the plight of one person with disability is a plight for every citizen and that the government has enacted the disability Act to ensure persons with disability are catered for such as education, employment and accessibly. “The ministry has designed this mechanism to give persons with disability the voice and a role in governance. With this townhall meeting, the ministry of social welfare has provided you an enviable environment to ask progressive questions demanding response encompasses the future aspirations of our various institutions” he underscored while committing to support the ministry of social welfare in development a strategy that will call the country’s disability inclusion strategy that will build Sierra Leone wherein every Persons disability plight would be released.
He furthered that the country has made a significant process in promoting persons with disability, noting as the sixteen-day of activism on non-violence continues, he called upon everyone to end the gender base violence on forms of violence in the country.
Making her statement, minister of Social Welfare, Madam Melrose Karminty while thanking the minister of information and civic education for creating the space on townhall meetings said it was good to organize one for the disables in the country hence is a practical evidence for building Sierra Leone in living no-one behind, noting there is a need to call on state actors to renew their commitment for inclusivity, noting the townhall meeting brought her ministry a significant milestone achievement. “It is a milestone that does not only seek engagement with a wider and more representative range of persons with disability, but also strengthen mechanisms better evaluate disability inclusion in the design and implementation of programs”
Joseph Alieu Kamara, president Sierra Leone Union of on Disability Issues, thanked the minister of social welfare for organizing the townhall, saying advocacy is about speaking out on issues affecting persons with disability and that they should do it for themselves.
He called on government to recognize their Leadership and let them be at the centre on every decision relating to persons with disability while advising his constituent to take a different approach in their advocacy.
Hon. Julius Nye Cuffie, who spoke about the revise persons with disability Act said that lots of changes have been made from the 2011 Act, adding that it is important to get a Law that forbid discrimination against persons with disability while appealing for more into Ministries department and agencies. On justice he said, with the revise and implementation of the constitution it will enhance access to justice from disable people.
Seraphine Wakana, United nations resident coordinator Sierra Leone, spoke about sustainability on disability issues at the United Nations, adding they are in the country to support government priorities and leaders who are working on the right of people living with disability. According to her, there are about 1.3million people living with disability around the globe, noting it is not easy to address all issues at a time emphasizing that UN will strengthen advocacy in the African country.
