People Living With Disabilities (PLWDs) in the Donga Mantung Division of the North West region of Cameroon, disenfranchised for long and could not benefit from services due to lack of documentation to proof their status will now heave a sigh of relief.
The organisation, Center for Disability Inclusive Development (CEDID), based in the divisional headquarters, Nkambe, has started implementing a project to ease access to civil status documents including National Disability Cards for PLWDs to improve and enhance their participation in national life.
Funded by the Swiss diplomatic mission in Cameroon, the project was officially launched in Nkambe recently. It kicked off with a multi-stakeholder meeting. The meeting brought together officials from the administration, traditional and religious leaders, social workers and the civil society.
During the official launch of the project, CEDID’s Executive Director, Ngabir Paul Bantar, expressed thanks to the Swiss Embassy in Yaounde for the grant which he said will enable the organisation to make a meaningful impact on the lives of PLWDs in the entire division.
“This project aligns with our mission to promote inclusive development and ensure that no one is left behind,” Ngabir Paul said, adding that: “Traditional rulers are pivotal in the implementation of the project at the level of the villages because of some cultural practices that affect Persons Living With Disabilities”.
PLWDs face obstacles in acquiring documents
According to the World Bank, highly marginalized groups such as PLWDs often face major obstacles in acquiring identification documents. They are predominantly represented among an estimated one billion people without proof of identity globally.
In the Donga Mantung Division like anywhere else in Cameroon, there are many children with disabilities without civil status documents like the birth certificate.
This according to social workers is in partly blamed on the laissez-faire attitude of some families that do not see the necessity to acquire such for their children.
Even when civil status documents are free, getting necessary documentation to submit as part of the application process still seems cumbersome for some, a social worker with CEDID explained.
It should be said that without a National Disability Cards, PLWDs can’t benefit from services and exemptions that exist for people who have proof of disability.
Promoting human rights of PLWDs
With the guidance of key partners like the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, (CBCHS), CEDID has outlined several key initiatives for implementation of the project that focuses on reducing poverty and promoting the human rights of PLWDs.
These include; supporting access to the production of birth certificates and National Disability Cards for PLWDs in all five municipalities of the Division.
“We plan to establish civil documentation for at least 150 children and Persons With Disabilities, including birth certificates for children with disabilities and disability cards for Persons With Disabilities,” Ngabir Paul said.
To achieve their goal, CEDID has engaged Community-Based Inclusive Development (CBID) volunteers who are doing home visits and collecting data on those who need the documentation in all the Subdivisions.
They are also making an inventory of those who have not received care for their conditions in order to do appropriate referrals to social and medical services where they can get either treatment or rehabilitation, the organization said.
A mass media sensitization and education through the Donga Mantung Community Radio, (DMCR), is also envisaged for a period of six months as part of the project.
First published in NewsWatch newspaper No 176 of Monday, May 27, 2024.
