International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December, was observed in Barentu for the 27th time at national level under the theme “Transformative Solutions for Inclusive Development”.

Mr. Mihreteab Fesehaye, Director General of Social Welfare at the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, said that according to the study conducted by the UN, about 15% of the world’s population live with some sort of disability and 7% in Eritrea.

Mr. Mihreteab went on to say that aside from the minor negative and backward outlooks being observed, handling and treatment of issues related to disabilities in Eritrea emanate from community based noble societal values.

Perceiving disability beyond physical appearance of people hinders productivity of people with disability, Mr. Samuel Mamungnganidze, Deputy Representative of UNICEF in Eritrea, said that creating conducive environment with a view to enable people with disabilities become self supportive and productive members of the society is the responsibility of every citizens as well as the Government and public institutions.

Indicating that social service provision institutions being put in place take disabled citizens into consideration, Mr. Franco Kubaba, Director General of Social Service in Gash Barka Region, said that supporting citizens with disabilities is not to be left to specific institutions only and called for integrated effort.

The event was attended by Ms. Leul Gebreab, Minister of Labor and Social Welfare, Ambassador Mahmud Ali Hirui, Governor of Gash Barka Region, Ms. Tekea Tesfamicael, President of the National Union of Eritrean Women, Ambassador Mahmud Ali Jabra, Secretary of PFDJ in Gash Barka Region as well as other officials and invited guests.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ministry of Information, Eritrea.