By Gladys Kole
An activist and the executive director of the Community Empowerment for Progress Organization (CEPO) Mr. Edmund Yakani is calling on president Salva kiir Mayardit to assent the Convention of person with Disabilities (PWD) by December 3rd 2022.
Yakani made the appeal yesterday during a one day sensitization workshop for the national parliamentarian on the United Nations convention focused on the rights of persons with disabilities under the theme “towards effective engagement on disability inclusion in south Sudan”.
CEPO, Light for the world, Across, Cbm and Africa Disability Protocol organized the one day advocacy workshop to build a supportive constituency in the transition national legislative assembly.
Participants brainstormed section around the promotion and protection of persons with disabilities of all levels of the government be it private or public sector.
The main aim of the workshop was to campaign for the government of South Sudan to enact and sign the UN Convention on the persons with disabilities.
“We are aware that the convention of the rights of the persons with disability is ratified by our parliament now the convention is in front of our president to be signed” Yakani said.
Speaking to No. 1 Citizen during the workshop Edmund Yakani urged President kiir to assent the UN convention without further delay.
“We want to take this opportunity to urge our president that it’s really urgent that he should sign this convention of the persons with disabilities before the 3rd of December which marks the international day of the rights of the people with disabilities” he appealed.
The participants in the workshop resolved that there should a public call for president to sign the convention of the persons with disabilities to become a binding document in the country.
Yakani acknowledged that recently they witnessed that all the states parliament have appointed persons with disability as lawmakers which is a great move.
“We have 21 MPs in 10 states that represent people with disabilities so we are proud that our campaign around the yellow ribbon campaign is meant to promote and bring public support for the rights of persons with disabilities”
Meanwhile James Moboto the executive director at office of the Rt. Hon speaker of transitional national legislative assembly said the workshop has helped raised awareness about issues of persons with disabilities.
“We didn’t know much about disabilities like how we know today now we know the problem people living with disabilities face daily and the laws how it can be enacted for them” he noted.
Moboto stressed that although the national parliament has passed the two conventions of persons living with disabilities he still feels they did not work on it as it’s supposed to be.
“We are looking at how we can come up with a commission we will advise the government to set up a commission of disability to look after the issues of disabilities like anti-corruption commission and other commissions.” He said
“We advise the organizations of persons with disabilities to go to the state level after they finish at the national level” he added.