The Minister of Social Affairs has called on state actors and members of the civil society to provide access to persons living with disabilities into their various establishments, so as to develop and exploit their multiple talents for the development of the country.

Pauline Irène Nguéné was talking in Yaoundé on Friday December 3, 2021, on the occasion of the 30th edition of the International Day of Persons Living With Disabilities commemorated under the theme “Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities within the context of covid-19 for an inclusive, accessible and sustainable world.”

According to official statistics, close to 3,487,200 Cameroonians are persons living with disabilities. This category of persons are exposed to several challenges, including violence, discrimination, inaccessibility, poor living conditions, marginalisation and victims of war. The day also comes at a time when access to proper educational facilities and quality professional training, which could permit persons with disabilities to face the job market or live independently, is still on a rise. These disabilities do not permit them to fully take part in the development projects of their communities nor in making decisions that work in their favour.

It is in this light that the UN secretary General, António Guteress in a clarion call to all nations, including Cameroon pleaded that all institutions should enable persons living with disabilities to take part in decision making and the sustainable development of to their nations. “We need everyone, including persons with disabilities onboard to achieve the sustainable development goals. Around the world, persons with disabilities and their representative organisations are taking action to realise the call: Nothing about us without us,” António Guteress said in a letter.

Just like the UN secretary General, Pauline Irène Nguéné, calls for the social integration of persons with disabilities, who have seen their living conditions worsened by the covid-19 pandemic and other diseases like HIV/AIDS.  To her, these groups of persons possess great potentials which can be capitalized upon for the development of the country. “The construction of an inclusive, sustainable and accessible world therefore presupposes the taking into account of the disability approach in all economic recovery programs and projects: the effective participation of the disabled person as an actor and master of his/her destiny.  In the process of development, no segment of the population should be left behind.  It is therefore up to us, more than before,  to determine strategies to include the concerns of people with disabilities in all dimensions: security, economic, social, human and environmental.  In the current health context of Covid-19, the leadership and participation of people with disabilities must also be taken into account as well as their involvement in the response.  It holds true for other r pandemics such as  HIV/AIDS which continues to wreak havoc on Cameroonians in general and disabled people in particular,” the minister reiterated.

Besides expressing their grievances, the ceremony was also an occasion for people living with disabilities to express their gratitudes to some key actors of MINAS, for the unending efforts they put in place to defend their rights on a daily. These were notably Minister Pauline Irène Nguéné, and the director in charge of persons with disabilities and the elderly, Mrs. Ambe Angelica Bih Mundi. Handicaps from the Northwest and Southwest regions residing in Yaoundé also used the opportunity to plead with the government to come to their aid and to end the crisis in the restive anglophone regions, so that they can return to their regions.

It is worth recalling that a series of gifts and recognitions were offered to persons living with disabilities by the minister of social affairs during the ceremony. The beneficiaries were notably those who distinguished themselves in their various works of life. The gifts varied from wheelchairs, white canes, basic necessities and certificates. Persons with disabilities also used the occasion to showcase their technical know-how. It varied from the production of liquid soup, shoes, documents in brail, singing, dancing, interpretation among others.

Initiated by the World Health Organization in 1992, the international day of Persons living with disabilities aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and mobilize support for the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities. It also seeks to increase awareness of gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.

Ingrid KENGNE

Reactions

“The government is really deploying all its efforts for persons with disabilities to have their rights”

The Minister of Social Affairs, Pauline Irène Nguéné

As we are a celebrating the 3Othe edition of the international day of Persons with disabilities today, we are calling on all actors to deploy their efforts in order to remove all the barriers to permit persons living with disabilities to really live with a right to contribute to the construction of our country because we know that they have the talent and competence to put at the disposal of our country. We have had many activities for the past weeks. We have shown how the government is really deploying all its efforts for persons with disabilities to have their rights. So we have to draft bills that we presented to the parliament this last week and we had activities throughout the week, activities related to the rights of persons living with disabilities. We are then having an important activity today. All this is to show that the government is really willing that persons with disabilities should move forward to be a full actors for the development of our country.

“The educational system doesn’t take into account our disabilities”

Evina Bella Angeline, Coordinator of the Association of Cameroonian University students living with disabilities (CASHUACAM)

We Cameroonians living with disabilities face many challenges like molestation, financial problems, stigmatisation,  no access to social facilities, discrimination, difficult access to education among others. In the university for example, it is very difficult for us to go to school, because all classes and departments are not accessible for students living with disabilities. The educational system doesn’t take into account our disabilities. Most teachers and lecturers don’t know how to manage a student living with disabilities. Blind students for example have many problems just like others who don’t speak. Well, the good news is that the government is trying its best to ameliorate our situation. Persons with disabilities for instance do not pay school fees in the universities, that’s state universities but like I said, they are specific trainings that are very important because many chancellors don’t permit that students living with disabilities make these professional faculties without paying for them.

“We love them and their contribution is really needed for the development of Cameroon”

Mrs. Ambe Angelica Bih Mundi, director in charge of persons with disabilities and the elderly

We are today celebrating persons living with disabilities in the context of covid-19, and the theme for this 30th edition is ‘inclusion of persons living with disabilities in the development process for an accessible and durable development within the context of covid-19.” So today we see that even though there is covid-19, persons living with disabilities are hard-hit and so shouldn’t be kept aside. They should be included in all development processes. The ministry is doing a lot for persons living with disabilities. Just recently, the minister was at the National Assembly and the senate to defend projects of laws for persons living with disabilities. MINAS is a whole ministry taking care of them and there is the 2010 law in favour of them. There is a lot of advocacy as far as employment, education and vocational training is concerned. There is also accessibility to public structures. Buildings are not accessible, but with the advocacy of MINAS, buildings are now eventually taking the handicap approach into consideration. We now have access rams in buildings to make access for persons with disabilities possible and some schools have been renovated. Most of the schools now are becoming inclusive schools and even the environment should be accessible. That is the advocacy of MINAS and it is already gaining grounds. On this special, what I want to tell persons with disabilities is that we love them and we know that their contribution is really needed for the development of Cameroon. I’m particularly happy today because persons living with disabilities surprised me with a gift. It was really a big surprise and I wasn’t expecting that from them but I really feel touched and now I see that somebody somewhere is seeing the little work that I do in my little corner and I sincerely thank persons living with disabilities for this recognition.

 “I’m begging the government to come to the aid of IDP handicaps”

Ade Fidelis, an IDP father living with disabilities

The message that I am trying to channel through this placard and peace plant is that peace should return to the Northwest and Southwest regions. We are disable people and you can imagine our problems. We came from   Bamenda and I’m a father of three and I don’t have any job here. So I’m begging the government to come to our aid. I sell water and my wife sells eggs. We just have a room that one godfather has helped us with. That’s why I’m passing across this message, that we should try and end this anglophone crisis so we can return to Bamenda. Even though I’m a handicap, life was better off in Bamenda. I was surviving because I was living in my father’s house, where I wasn’t paying rent. My mother was taking care of me and we used to sell at the Food Market. But the crisis has send all of us here and things have become so difficult. The little i earn through the sales of water doesn’t permit me to take care of my family. I only have to beg people to help send my kids to school. So people of goodwill take care their education. Someday can just promise to help us by sending one of my kids to school. That’s how we’ve been surviving.

Collected by Ingrid KENGNE