Liberia’s 26th President Jospeh Nyumah Boakai was officially sworn into office as as Liberia’s new President on January 22, 2024, but the National Union of Organizations of the Disabled (NUOD) has since raised a number of concerns.
Exactly one week following his inauguration on January 29, President Boakai took to the podium in the joint assembly of the Legislature at the Capitol Building to address the Nation for the first time as per constitutional requirement.
As a new President, the Liberian Leader laid his vision, priorities and interest to members of the Legislature.
Key takeaway from the President’s address was a mission to wage war on drug thus declaring the act as a National Public Health Emergency.
Other sectors were deemed critical including his ARREST Agenda which speaks of Agriculture, Rule of law, roads, Education, sanitation and Tourism.
Members of the disability Community had hoped that issues surrounding them including their welfare and adequate standard of living could be highlighted.
Barely three days after the President’ SONA, the National Union of Organizations of the Disabled NUOD held a major Press conference in sharp reaction to the situation.
NUOD President Peter Flomo has since described the situation as an oversight urging the new Government to prioritize issues involving PWDs.
“We have explicit confidence in this government that they will do their best to improve the lives of persons living with disabilities,” he said.
Mr. Flomo added that the time is even more compelling for issues of PWDs to be taken seriously as the community continues to swim in the pool of poverty and exclusion.
NOUD alarms over lack of sign Language interpreter during SONA
The National Union of Organizations of the Disabled has decried the lack of sign language interpreter during President Boakai first state of The Nation Address.
NUOD believes the act is an attempt to discriminate certain portion of the population especially the hard of hearing (Deaf)
The organization’s President Peter Flomo said there should be a sign language interpreter at all public events.
“During the recent inaugural ceremony and the deliberation of the SONA, we realized that here was no sign language interpreter at of those events which led to the exclusion of our deaf community from accessibility to public information and participation” Flomo added.
The move is consistent with article 24 section 3(b) of the United Nations Chapter on the Rights of Persons with disabilities which calls for the facilitation of sign language and the promotion of the linguistic identity of the deaf community.
To ensure participatory governance, NUOD has also proposed to the office of the president for the appointment of a national disability advisor.
Mr. Flomo added that the advisor will guide the president on the implementation of policies and programs affecting the community of persons with disabilities in Liberia.
NOUD wants members included in Government
The National Union of Organizations of the disabled is the leading civil society organization for all disable groups in Liberia.
The group’s National President Peter Flomo wants President Boakai appoint qualified and competent people with disabilities in the governance of the Country.
Mr. Flomo believes this is crucial to ensure Liberia conforms to international protocols on disabilities and their rights to inclusion.
“The act that established the National Commission on Disability calls for the employment of 4% of persons with disabilities out of every hundred employees in all ministries and agencies of Government and the private sector.”
Latest survey report indicates that persons with disabilities are among the least employed group of people in Liberia.
NUOD wants such narrative change by the appointment of its members that have the requisite competence and qualification in position of authority.
“The disability community has some of the brightest minds. All we need is the space and opportunity to explore. We too can make the difference once given the opportunity” Peter stressed.
The NOUD national President emphasized that there should be no business as usual as was echoed by President Jospeh Boakai in his State of the Nation Address.
Mr. Flomo added that Government and partners must begin taking some decisive actions to transform the lives of persons with disabilities especially bettering its social services.
He named access to good housing, healthcare, education, empowerment as some of the issues should be addressed head-on.