At launch of Int’l Day of Persons with Disabilities: Minister unveils blueprint for community-based rehabilitation for inclusive dev’t.

The blueprint was unveiled during a ceremony in Yaounde marking the launch of this year’s edition of the International Day of Disabled Persons. 

The event organised November 27, was attended by the Secretary of State to the Minister of Basic Education, Acheri Kilo, and the Country Director of government’s development partner, FAIRMED, Mou Ferdinand.  

The document is titled: “National Strategy Document on Community-Based Rehabilitation for Inclusive Development in Cameroon 2024-2029”.

While unveiling the document, the minister said the national strategy document aims to improve the CBR services offered to people with disabilities in order to restore their dignity.

She said it is also aimed at bringing out their potential and encourage their full participation in all aspects of community life, thereby improving their living conditions and those of their families.

The easy-to-read document was drawn up in view of decentralising intervention and capitalising on the opportunities offered by the community. 

Highlighting how strategic the document is, the minister mentioned that it makes it possible to harmonise, at national level, the response of CBR actors to the multiple needs of people with disabilities in terms of health, education, means of subsistence, or even empowerment, in a coherent framework.

“This document strengthens the legal and institutional framework for the protection and promotion of people with disabilities. In fact, any social worker will find in it the path to follow, the procedural errors to avoid, the principles not to violate, the priority activities to carry out, and so on,” she said.

The member of government insisted that the fundamental objective of the strategy document is to contribute to the empowerment, via the socio-economic integration of people with disabilities within their community. 

Officials, stakeholders in group photo

She expressed government’s gratitude to all its partners, especially the international NGO FAIRMED, civil society organisations, people with disabilities, as well as experts and other stakeholders who contributed to the development of this strategy, which is crucial to improving the living conditions of people with disabilities.

Gov’t determined to ensuring protection of socially vulnerables

According to Minister Irene Nguene, government is fully committed to promoting and protecting socially vulnerable people in Cameroon, and in particular people with disabilities. 

This, she said, is in line with President Biya’s policy of social justice and national solidarity which places man at the centre of any development process.

Citing the different measure taken by government to improve the situation of persons with disabilities, the member of government said, at international level, Cameroon ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 28 September 2023. 

On the institutional front, the Ministry of Social Affairs has provided substantial funding for the development of specialised polyfunctional rehabilitation institutions for people with disabilities. 

Tangible examples cited in the Minister’s speech include the ongoing completion of the project to build and equip the Maroua Centre for the Rehabilitation of Disabled People, and the modernisation of the technical facilities at the Cardinal Paul Emile Leger National Centre for the Rehabilitation of Disabled People in Yaoundé. 

Alongside this institutional response, the minister mentioned that another approach is being developed to provide care for disabled people and their families in their own living environment, with particular attention to efficiency and cost control, known as ‘Community-Based Rehabilitation’. 

“This method of intervention within the community is encouraged by the deployment of operational technical units dedicated to the local care of these targets and by the training of human resources in disability rehabilitation,” she affirmed. 

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which will be in its 32^nd edition, has been placed under the theme “A Day for All”.  It will be celebrated on December 3.