A national week of persons with disabilities kicked off on Friday with a focus of addressing the intersection of gender and disability. It will run from November 26 to December 3

The week was launched in Kigali ahead of the International day of persons with disabilities, which is slated for December 3.

The day will be marked under the theme, "Leadership and participation of persons with disabilities toward an inclusive, accessible and sustainable post-COVID-19 world’’. The celebration will take place in Rubavu district at national level on December 3.

Emmanuel Ndayisaba, Executive Secretary of the National Council of Persons with Disabilities (NCPD), commended the government for supporting women with disabilities and other projects.

"We are pleased with the renewed policy on prevention and combat of violence on women with disabilities this year. It is a huge step because women with disabilities face a lot violence and abuse,” he said.

He pointed out that for the development of disabled women to be possible, there is a need for involvement of different stakeholders to emphasize sensitizing different institutions to include people with disabilities especially women in national programs and also encourage women to be bold and use the opportunities given to them.

He further stressed that they will establish a system to count and know all the women with disabilities, for them to access government health care programs set for vulnerable families.

"By the end of December, we will launch a system to census all people with disabilities and those who would want to help them know where to find them, he added.”