South Sudan yesterday joined the rest of the world to commemorate the International Day for Persons with Disabilities.
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is an annual event that aims to educate the public about issues affecting people with disabilities (PDs), mobilize political will and resources to address global issues, and celebrate and reinforce humanity’s achievements.
In South Sudan, the result of the 2008 census indicated that people with disabilities made up 5.1 per cent of the population of southern Sudan at the time. However, this number has greatly increased after the outbreak of December 2013 that quickly spread to most parts of the country, especially the Upper Nile and Bahr El-Ghazal regions.
The five years’ conflict had led to an increase in the number of people with disabilities as a result of gunshots.
According to the South Sudan Women with Disability Network’s data survey conducted from June 2016-2017, and August 2017, an estimated 11 per cent of the population is affected by disabilities.
This represents over one million people with disabilities (PwDs). Physical impairments, such as loss or limited use of limbs, account for the majority of disabilities reported, followed by vision impairments, and hearing impairments, according to the survey.
In another assessment conducted in 2012, only 12.2 per cent of severe disabilities in South Sudan are acquired at birth. Conflict accounts for 21 per cent of severe disabilities, while many others are caused by preventable or interacted diseases. For example, eye diseases account for 23.5 per cent of disabilities, and polio for another 21 per cent.
Therefore, when the country commemorates the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it is important for our leaders to renew their commitments to not take the country back to war again.
They should mobilise the resources to support the PwDs across the country. Several civilians and soldiers who lost parts of their bodies during the recent conflict and the 21 years of war have become physically impaired.
They were amputated and do not have the ability to provide the basic needs for their families. Many of them face several challenges as they go about their daily lives. Some of their troubles include lack of financial and material support and lack of supportive devices to facilitate their movement and access to public services.
People with disabilities have continued to face several forms of discrimination in public offices as well as in their respective communities. As we celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it is also important for us as a country to examine our contributions towards an equal society for all
According to the United Nations disability inclusion strategy, the realisation of the human rights of all persons with disabilities is an inalienable, integral, and indivisible part of all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
However, there is also a need to prevent some of the factors that contribute to disabilities in the country, such as war, which accounts for 21 per cent of the PwDs in the country.