Madam Stephenie Dahn-Koung, second lady of the country, has highlighted the need for empowering people with disability across the country as a way to enable them contribute adequately to personal responsibilities and wellbeing.
Speaking at the dedication ceremony of the renovated annex one of the headquarters of the group of seventy 77, the second lady highlighted different challenges faced by her office to cater to the needs of hundreds of disabled citizens.
Since taking over the institution in January, she explained that the administration inherited a deplorable facility and decided to have some renovation after establishing that the last time government ever renovated the structure was in 2008.
In her report, it was disclosed that the other components of the facility which host some of the occupants are lavishing in depredation with no funding to have it developed so that the folks can get back in to save homes.
She explained that the project of the first renovation and reinstatement of basic feeding programs for school going kids and their parents has been independently funded from her personal initiative because the budgetary allotment is unable to pay salaries and run other programs.
The dedication of the facility yesterday restore hope to many of the people occupying the compound of the disable as they rained praises on the second lady praying. They are however praying to have more support from other sources to aid the improvement initiative of their life.
The second lady who is the Managing Director for the Group of 77 in Monrovia, a huge disabled organ of government extended her advocacy to government and business entities during the dedication of an annex of the entity explaining that people living with disability are already physically challenged and needs to be empowered in order to increase their living standard.
According to her, there are different ways people with disability can be empowered ranging from access to quality education, employment opportunities and other capacity buildings programs.
She noted that the lack of job for those from the affected fraction of the country’s population has contributed to the growing number instead of them going into the streets with their children to beg others as a means of affording daily meal.
Meanwhile, Madam Koung explained that there are so many people living with disability in the country that are qualified to work in different sectors formally and informally but because of the scarcity of jobs and the conditions they are faced with, no employer or entity wants to have said people working in their system.
She explained further that since there is no job, the disabled are unable to send their children to school, feed themselves as well as finding a meaningful step to the poverty rate currently in the country.
“We are calling on institutions with social cooperate responsibilities to create employment opportunities for our people. When they go to seek jobs along with others that are physically fit, the employers always shy them away by judging their conditions as an inability,” she said.
