The President of Sierra Leone Union on Disability Issues (SLUDI), Santigie Kargbo has complained that the issues highlighted in the recently launched National Electoral Commission (NEC) Revised Disability Policy 2018 were not reflective of realities present at the working environment of NEC. Kargbo made the observation while commenting on the different thematic areas the NEC Revised Disability Policy 2018 highlighted. “Before the review of the NEC Disability Policy we did not see any tangible results by NEC to achieve different objectives in the previous policy relating to Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in the electioneering processes,” he noted. Kargbo pointed out that both previous and current Disability Policy documents were almost the same, and that it was because NEC did not deliver the goods in the previous document that was why NEC and its partners decided to do a recommitment in the revised version of the Disability Policy. According to the Revised Disability Policy 2018, NEC has committed itself to:
- Ensuring increased employment opportunities for People with Disabilities for both permanent and temporary positions;
- Expanding NEC’s efforts to improve access to NEC services for People with Disabilities, including through access screening all NEC policies and procedures; and
- Promoting the right for disability inclusion and maintaining collaborative linkages with Disabled Persons’ Organizations throughout the electoral cycle.
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But according to Kargbo, “the environment has not been created by NEC for it to be able to implement provisions in the policy”. He believed that one could not implement a policy on issues dealing with disability without the involvement of PWDs. “When we talk about employment at NEC, there is no representative who is a person living with disabilities in its management to advice on thorny issues affecting the disabled community,” Kargbo indicted. He noted that there was a Gender and Disability desk at NEC, but noted that it only had two women and none disabled. Kargbo said it meant that NEC was only focused on the issues of gender rather than striking the balance between gender and disability issues. “We can only see a change, when we have at least two more officials in the Gender and Disability desk at NEC with persons living with disabilities, at least a male and a female,” Kargbo pointed out. He furthered that NEC should include activities on disabilities in its strategic plan and that the involvement of persons living with disabilities in its work should not be on a one off basis. Kargbo therefore appealed with authorities at NEC to take an affirmative action and employ a disable person at the management level to work closely with decision makers in the commission. “Persons living with disabilities should be represented in all NEC district offices as a way of cascading the involvement of PWDs in the work of the commission and a special communication strategy devised for disabled persons during elections,” Kargbo implored.
By Abdulai Gbla
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