National Council of Persons with Disabilities has called on districts to include programmes that benefit disabled people while preparing performance contracts (Imihigo).
The call was made last week in Bugesera District during a one day workshop which brought together vice -mayors in charge of social affairs from across the country and the representatives of people with disabilities.
The workshop was chaired by the State Minister for Community Development and Social Affairs in the Ministry of Local Government, Dr Alvera Mukabaramba.
During the meeting, participants discussed the progress the country has made to ensure the rights of people with disabilities, the current challenges and way forward to keep improving their lives.
Also, the council and the district vice mayors discussed the way of enhancing partnership to promote the full inclusion of people with disabilities in different indicators in performance contracts.
Presenting the achievements, Emmanuel Ndayisaba, the Executive Secretary of National Council of Persons with Disabilities, said that so far, the council appreciates the progress, adding that there are other problems to be solved.
He said that full inclusion will be effective when disabled people benefit from direct support under VUP, all children have access to inclusive education, disabled people given chance to compete during job competitions, among others.
"Since the establishment of the council in 2011, disabled people were advocated for and regular community outreaches were conducted to teach the community about the rights of disabled people and how they should be treated as important family members,”he said.
The council complained that while districts leave them out while setting performance contracts which they want changed in order to fully integrate them in development and anti-poverty initiatives.
Through the partnership with the districts, the council is strengthening its strategies to help address the issues of disabled people who are still begging on the city’s streets.
It was planned that beggars on the streets will be integrated into their families since the majority of them are from rural areas.
Ndayisaba asked districts to encourage development partners to invest in some initiatives that aim at improving the lives of people with disabilities.
Addressing the participants, Mukabaramba told the vice mayors to work closely with disabled people and ensure their security in the community.
"All government programmes are implemented at the district level but it all starts from performance contracts of districts. Some districts did not understand the necessity of including activities reserved for people with disabilities in their plans but this workshop will enable them to do so,”Mukabaramba added.
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