People with disabilities have asked to be given equal education and employment opportunities. They said this during the occasion to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Yei.
They lamented that they are the “poorest and most abandoned” population in South Sudan and can hardly meet their basic needs. They asked for assistance in order for them to reduce over dependence on other people, which many of them find themselves in.
Despite a low turnout, persons with disabilities marched in the streets of Yei, some in wheel chairs and some with crutches, to mark that day. The blind were given support in order to complete the 100-meter distance procession. They sung, “We are all one in South Sudan!’, ‘We are not respected!”
After singing many gospel songs, the procession ended with the Lord’s prayer.
“We are just beggars. A child who is disabled is not put in school, they say that it is a waste of time and money,” said Lotigo Moses Lino, head of the Union of Persons with Disabilities in Yei River County.
“This is not good. Let us give our children an equal opportunity to go to school, and we need to have people understand that a disabled person has the same sort of mind as a person who is not disabled,” he told the gathering at Yei Freedom square on Saturday.
Lotigo said persons with disabilities are often cut off from jobs because most government agencies and non-governmental organizations want people who are fully fit to take up their advertised jobs.
He said persons with disabilities having children find it hard to feed their families, and they can’t pay for their education or receive health services.
“But if you are disabled, your mind is not disabled. So disability is not inability”, he said.
Anna Nyoka, another person with disability, said they are enduring ceaseless insults, and there have been countless cases of men impregnating disabled women and then abandoning them and refusing to marry them.
She recalled a story where her friend quit school due to harsh treatment.
“There was a girl in the same school. She was nicknamed “nyolo ‘dii” in Kakwa, which means moving with weakness in one leg. She didn’t understand the name at first. But the rest of our fellow students continued to call her this nickname. But when she came to understand its meaning, she immediately left school,” Nyoka recalled.
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was marked under the global theme ‘Achieving 17 Goals for the Future we Want’.
The commemoration in Yei River State was organized by Handicap International and Yei Episcopal Church of South Sudan and Sudan (ECSS&S), along with the sector of Education and Training, working in collaboration with the State Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare.
Handicap International operates in Yei, Mugwo and Otogo, while Yei ECSSS education and training covers Yei, Lainya, and Morobo counties.
‘All people are good’
The different categories of persons with disabilities are blindness, lameness, being dumb, being visually impaired or being physically disabled.
Those with disabilities complained that there is endless discrimination in employment and participation in social events.
Bishop Hillary Luate Adeba of the Episcopal Church in Yei acknowledged that rights of persons with disabilities are continuously violated, and that the perpetrators are not being held accountable either.
He narrated a scenario where four blind children of one family were locked in a house because they were regarded as useless.
Biblically, he said persons with disabilities have extraordinarily genuine hearts, adding that the church should remain committed to treat all people as one people of God.
“There is no boundary in the ministry of Jesus. All people are good. So all people should be treated equally,” he said.
Lack of vocational skills to empower persons with disabilities, harassment, and rising insecurity are some of the major challenges they face. And to make matters worse, the union lacks funds for activities, land, and office equipment for them.
Lotigo said educating persons with disabilities or establishing vocational schools for them would pave a way for the unions to come up with income generating activities for those with disabilities, like tailoring and carpentry.
According to article 30 of South Sudan Transitional Constitution 2011, the government is tasked with the duty to ensure that persons with disabilities fully enjoy their rights and freedoms in the society.
However, it has been hard for the country to take care of the disabled, given that South Sudan has a high percentage of people with disabilities due to civil unrest that has lasted for decades.
According to the ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, 77,012 people, constituting 3.6% of South Sudan’s population, have some sort of disability.
Within that population, 52,949 of these are children, 6,320 are demobilized soldiers, and 17,743 are orphans.
“Left behind”
The political turmoil in the country and insecurity has hit persons with disabilities the hardest, compared to able-bodied people, and the efforts of development partners to give services to the target population are minimal.
“If there is insecurity in the country, you find their suffering is greater than ours. They will always be left behind while others run for safety. Persons with disabilities are the poorest,” said Awate Rose, Handicap International official.
In Yei, many development organizations have stopped their operations until peace returns. This has severely affected the disabled who were benefitting from these organisations.
“Peace is paramount so that services reach the people. If we have peace, we can even strengthen persons with disabilities so they may become independent,” Awate said.
Awate cautioned that South Sudan will not achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals if war continues.
The 17 SDGs include ending poverty, hunger, and inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of life-long learning opportunities for all.
“The international community aims to achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value”, states Goal 8 of the SDGs.
Amos Lenga Modi, Director General in the Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, said the collective efforts of stakeholders, including the government, development partners, and citizens are needed, to avoid the development of more disabilities and improve the lives of the people with them.
“This means, we with you together and our organizations must work hard to avoid more disabilities. When we do so, we will never leave anybody behind,” he said.