By Foday Moriba Conteh
With a view to evaluate the 10 years existence of the Persons with Disabilities Act 2011 in the country, the One Family People in collaboration with the Sierra Leone Union on Disabilities Issues with support from Liliane Fonds has on Tuesday 15th June, 2021 convened a National Consultative Meeting to look at the successes and challenges of the Act. The event was held at the Peace Museum on Jomo Kenyatta Road in Freetown.
In her statement, the Operations Director of One Family People, Hadiatou Diallo, described the evaluation of the 10 years operations of the Persons with Disabilities Act 2011event as a move in the right direction towards addressing issues of disabilities in the country.
She noted that the One Family People is a strategic partner of the Liliane Foundation, adding that members of the Foundation have been working together with local organizations in Africa in order to make children living with disabilities stronger and their environment more accessible of which she encouraged other organizations to emulate the footsteps of the Liliane Foundation in supporting local organizations.
The Operations Director divulged that one of their strategies, as an organization, is advocacy, furthering how they believe that advocacy can contribute greatly to change norms, policies etc, adding that it was through advocacy that the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities was established, and that it was also through advocacy that the Persons with Disabilities Act 2011 was enacted of which they are gathered to evaluate its10 years of operation in the country.
Executive Secretary of the National Commission for Persons with Disability, Saa Lamin Kortequee, expressed appreciation to the One Family People for the laudable venture in bringing Organizations of Persons with Disabilities together to evaluate the 10 years operations of the Persons with Disabilities Act 2011 with the objective of reviewing its successes and challenges.
He also emphasized the need for the establishment of a disable unit in institutions in order to include persons living with disabilities in the design, implementation, and monitoring of their activities, noting that there are some institutions like the Human Rights Commission, NCRA etc. that have already created units but lamented that some are not too disable friendly.
Saa Lamin Kortequee revealed that disability is not a charity issue but it is about rights and that as citizens with disability in the country they are entitled to every right like non-disable citizens.
On his part, President of Sierra Leone Union on Disabilities Issues (SLUDI), Santigie Kargbo, applauded the One Family People for convening the National Consultative Meeting to look at the successes and challenges of the PwDs Act 2011 which he described as a stepping stone in addressing issues of disabilities in the country.
He said that they will listen keenly to the Consultant for the Review of the PwDs Act 2011 after which they will have discussions on recommendations towards the review of the PwDs Act 2011, adding that although there are certain sections in the Act which should be reviewed there are also things which should be added that will impact the lives of persons living with disabilities positively.
Evaluating the ten years operations of the PwDs Act 2011, highlighting successes and challenges, the Consultant for the Review of the PwDs Act 2011, Hon. Julius Nye Cuffie, said that Chapter II of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone (Act No.6), which is the highest law of the land only passively mentioned persons living with disabilities (PWDs) under the rubric, ‘Fundamental Principles of State Policy’ of which he said those said provisions are not justiciable, meaning that one cannot enforce them in the courts of law in Sierra Leone.
He added that disability issues were not treated as rights issues under the human rights provisions of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone, adding that the legal omission is that where the rights of PWDs is about to be infringed, are been infringed or have been infringed, a PWD cannot invoke Section 28 of the 1991 Constitution of Sierra Leone to assert and enforce his or her right.
Underscoring the successes of the of the PwDs Act 2011 Hon. Julius Nye Cuffie said one of the successes is that Sierra Leone now has a legal framework mostly tailor-made from international law, recognizing, protecting, promoting and catering for the enforcement of the rights, dignity and worth of PWDs and to create equal opportunities for PWDs and the setting up by Government in 2012 of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities.
On the challenges of the PwDs Act 2011 the Consultant revealed that the Government of Sierra Leone only tabled in Parliament for ratification the UNCRPD and not the additional Protocol to the UNCRPD which he said affects the disability development in Sierra Leone.
He added that the PwDs Act 2011 was supposed to have domesticated the ratified UNCRPD to the latter.
The original draft PWD Bill which was popularized and validated by Disabled Persons Organization (DPOs), INGOs and NGOs at the time, which was comprehensive and all-encompassing, was significantly trammeled by the Government of Sierra Leone before the same was tabled in Parliament for enactment, he also intimated.
Climaxing the event was a discussion on recommendations towards the review of the PwDs Act 2011.
