The symposium, officials said, was geared towards addressing and advocating inequalities or constraints faced by persons with disabilities in the society, work places, schools, health facilities and other places.
The forum which was held at the American Corner in Bundung, Kanifing Municipality, availed the participants the opportunities to discuss some of the issues affecting them, chart way-forward and also come out with recommendations that the government need to address.
Speaking at the forum, Samba Jaiteh President and founder of FCRPD, spoke at length on the significance of the convergence, saying: “FCRPD is established with the objective of Highlighting on some of the challenges faced by Persons With Disabilities (PWD) with a view to advocate for social inclusion.”
“Persons with Disabilities are left behind when it comes to education for all. If you visit schools, you hardly find any sign language interpreters in order to interpret for PWD people.”
That, he claimed, is a “…big challenge in the country. We have been seeing people advocating on many issues in the country, but hardly you see people advocating for issues affecting PWD or those having hearing problems. In essence, our education system only caters for persons without disabilities.”
The President of FCRPD urged the government to introduce sign language as a subject in schools, saying: “We want the government to introduce sign language as a subject especially at the Gambia College Schools of Education,” he emphasised.
The move, he continued, will go a long way in helping teachers to understand sign languages with the desire for them to help differently-abled students.
Mariama Sanyang, an advocate from the Girls Agenda said promoting diversity and inclusion through their work is unwavering.
She added: “We are committed to promoting inclusion against any form of discrimination, without sidelining persons with disabilities. We have been organizing camps for persons with disabilities on Gender Based Violence, Female Genital Mutilation(FGM), Child Marriage and other related issues.”
Concluding, she said: “We encourage persons with disabilities to take up leadership roles so that they can have access to information and take part in the decision-making process.”
