A WOMEN’S Special Seats legislator, Ms Mwantatu Mbarouk has said that despite local and international calls for action to promote the rights of people living with disability, little has been done so far.
“We talk about inclusive development or living no one behind in development. It is unfortunate that even for government projects- construction of buildings, the need for people with disabilities such as easy accessibility is ignored,” said Ms Mbarak.
She raised the concerns over the unfriendly environment for people living with disabilities, yesterday in the House of Representatives, while discussing the 2020/2021- 2023/2024 development plan tabled by the Finance and Planning Minister Mr Jamal Kassim last week.
She cited an example, where the recently built Ministry of Education and Vocational Training can not be easily accessed by people living with disabilities, saying: “Especially those with physical visual impaired persons…government buildings should set examples.”
Elaborating, the legislator noted that it was high time the ‘disability law No 9 of 2009’ was reviewed with the objective of strengthening it so that all projects (all infrastructures including buildings and roads) consider people living with disabilities.
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs- 2030) goal number 11 states that authorities should work hard to make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe and sustainable.