Kharas Governor, Aletha Frederick said wheelchairs can assist people with disabilities to become productive members of their communities.
Frederick who made these remarks here on Thursday as she handed over 20 wheelchairs to individuals living with disabilities, said disability is a development issue citing that there is a direct link between poverty and disability. It can cause poverty by preventing full participation by persons with disabilities in the economic and social life of their communities, particularly where appropriate support is not available.
She said there is a growing consensus that the most pressing issue faced globally by persons with disabilities is not their specific impairment, but rather their lack of equitable access to resources, including education, employment, healthcare and social systems resulting in persons with disabilities experiencing extremely high levels of poverty, which can lead to precarious living conditions.
“I urge all offices and institutions in the region to ensure that their buildings or infrastructure are accessible by those living with disability. Many do not have adequate access to proper rehabilitation care and they tend to lose opportunities of going to participate in social activities. It is a fact that a wheelchair is one of the most commonly used assistive devices for enhancing personal mobility, which is a precondition for enjoying human rights and living in dignity,” she added.
Frederick while extending a word of gratitude towards Rani Trading for donating the wheelchairs urged the beneficiaries to utilise it and avoid selling or giving them away.
“We are giving you this to ensure that your life becomes easier, we want you to be able to access offices, healthcare facilities and shopping malls,” she stressed.
The governor also handed over some other items donated by the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare to people living with disability, such as nappies, portable toilets and showers, sanitary pads and feeding milk.
Penina Kahuika, a mother to a five-year-old girl born with physical disability in an interview with Nampa said: “I am very thankful for this donation, especially for the wheelchair because my child is becoming heavy for me to carry around when we go to the doctors and shop and so on, and for the supplement – it will really help because she has to eat food that is expensive which I cannot afford and this will help to give her strength.”
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
