By Edith Wirdze
The United Nations Centre for Human Rights and Democracy in Central Africa and the Government of Cameroon have pledged to ameliorate the plight of handicapped persons in the country.
Speaking at a conference in Yaounde on the Convention on Rights of Handicapped People, the Regional Representative of the UN Centre for Human Rights in Central Africa, Marie Evelyne Petrus-Barry, stressed that people with disabilities have rights to education, health, social and political integration.
According to the Convention, there will be reinforcement of aid to handicapped people, subventions to help professional training in order to facilitate their employment and integration their participation in all domains of life.
The Representative called on the Government to promote primary, secondary and professional training for handicaps and reiterated that the Government should promote employment and guarantee maximum mobility for handicapped people.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General at the Ministry of Social Affairs, Blaise Zoua-Houli Abraham, discussed measures for the fight against discrimination and social exclusion of handicapped people.
He said a National Committee has been created to brainstorm the problems of handicapped and get possible solutions for them.
The President of the Association of Handicapped People in Central Africa, Ondouah Abah, called for a global approach to obtain durable coordinated policies which could improve the lives of handicaps.
The handicapped people on their part expressed dissatisfaction at the way the Government has been treating them. They complained that handicap centres that used to operate well have been abandoned.
They said Government has done little on the education of handicaps and most of them are not motivated because even those with degrees roam the streets unemployed.
Moreover, most handicaps are not informed about important issues such as the HIV/AIDS because they need gesture interpreters to assist them and often they are not available.
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