Foreign News
AU, ECOWAS Urge Stakeholders for more Inclusion of persons with Disabilities for Effective Participation in Society
The African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have urged stakeholders to implement policies and action plans to ensure more inclusion of Persons with Disabilities for more effective participation in the society.
They advocated for this on Thursday, during the virtual commemoration of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, organized by the ECOWAS Commission.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that this year’s commemoration is titled: “From COVID-19 Towards a Sustainable and Resilient ECOWAS for All Persons with Disabilities; Leave No One Behind.
”Dr Siga Jagne, ECOWAS Commissioner for Social Affairs and Gender, said that ECOWAS Commission urged stakeholders to ensure that all areas of their works consider the inclusion of persons with disabilities for their effective participation in communicating.
Jagne said that stakeholders’ works should also reflect institutional and personal commitments of Persons with Disabilities and further coordinate to guarantee their dignity and rights which are fundamental.
“The ECOWAS Commission plays a strategic goal in promoting social inclusion in the region.
“It is worth mentioning that the Commission has initiated a Regional Study on disability inclusion in the ECOWAS region which will culminate in the formulation of a Regional Action Plan on Disability.
“The rights of persons with disabilities have gained more recognition than ever before in recent times, and especially within the ECOWAS space, particularly in the areas of education and sports,” she said.
She also said that the commemoration of Disability Day is one of the platforms the Commission is utilizing to ensure that action is taken to mainstream disability into development planning in the region.
“There are areas which need more improvement, such as public transport, public health services and other accessibility services to enable persons with different disabilities to enjoy their human rights the same way as persons without disabilities.
“Some of the critical areas of improvement include physical accessibility, usability, personal communication and access to information,” Jagne said.
She noted that the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is deepening pre-existing inequalities, exposing the extent of exclusion and highlighting that work on disability inclusion is overbearing.
She explained that Physical distancing and movement restrictions implemented, including lock downs, gathering restrictions and night-time curfews, meant that different arrangements have to be made for persons living with disabilities.
This, she said, is very necessary, as Persons with Disabilities rely on personal assistants’ services to continue living their daily lives with the support they need.
Mr Lefhoko Kesamang, Representative of the African Union Commission, said that there will be no sustainable development in ECOWAS unless Persons with disabilities are taken on board.
Kesamang said the African Union, realizing the importance of inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in the society, would developed the Africa disability architecture.
He said the framework was developed to drive the issues of disability; Disability rights in Africa and welfare of persons with disability in Africa to the Africa we want and to the ECOWAS of the People.
“The African Union developed policies which we have shared with ECOWAS and we are looking forward to ensure that we support ECOWAS to develop their own policies.
“The first policy, the African Union Disability Strategic Framework which was adopted in 2019, is the overacting policy of the African Union on how to deal with disability rights and inclusion across the continent.
“Almost equivalent of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and we also have the protocol which has been signed in only seven countries and we are looking forward for it to be ratified.
“And we are looking forward to the support and collaboration of ECOWAS to ensure that all Member States ratify this protocol so that it comes to force,” Kesamang said.
Mrs Adedoyin Beyioku-Alase, President, Deaf Women Association of Nigeria, said that the disability community is faced with a lot of challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic and protocols have even made things more difficult for them.
Beyioku-Alase, however, urged for legislation that would ensure more inclusion of persons with disabilities in the society. (NAN)
No fewer than 50 people died and 185 others injured in road accidents during the four-day Eid el Fitr holiday
across Afghanistan.
The country’s General Directorate of Traffic Police on Monday said a total of 102 road accidents occurred across Afghanistan in the period, killing 50 commuters, including eight women and 13 children, and injuring 185 others.
Herat, Ghazni, and Paktika were among 34 provinces of the country where most of the road accidents took place, the department said.
Overspeeding, reckless driving, non-compliance to traffic rules, and lack of traffic signals on highways were the main causes of the deadly accidents, the government agency said.
(Xinhua/NAN)
The United States expects an attack by Iran against Israel but one that would not be big enough to draw Washington into war, a U.S. official said late on Thursday.
The White House said earlier that Washington did not want conflict to spread in the Middle East and the U.S. had told Iran it was not involved in an air strike against a top Iranian military commander in Damascus.
The White House added it warned Iran to not use that attack as a pretext to escalate further in the region.
Suspected Israeli warplanes bombed Iran’s embassy in Damascus on Monday in a strike for which Iran has vowed revenge and in which a top Iranian general and six other Iranian military officers were killed, ratcheting up tension in a region already strained by the Gaza war.
Iranian sources told Reuters that Tehran has signalled to Washington that it will respond to Israel’s attack on its Syrian embassy in a way that aims to avoid major escalation and it will not act hastily, as Tehran presses demands including a Gaza truce.
The United States has been on high alert about possible retaliatory strikes from Iran and U.S. envoys have been working to lower tensions.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s military assault on Hamas-governed Gaza has since killed more than 33,000 people according to the local health ministry, displaced nearly all of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, caused a humanitarian crisis, and led to genocide allegations that Israel denies.
Iran-backed groups have declared support for Palestinians, waging attacks from Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq.
Tehran has avoided direct confrontation with Israel or the United States, while declaring support for its allies. (Reuters/NAN)
Russia has sent an air defence system and 100 military trainers to Niger Republic in West Africa.
Military personnel from the Russian Ministry of Defence are to install the system and train Niger’s soldiers in its use, the Nigerien state broadcaster RTN reported late on Thursday.
This was preceded by a telephone conversation between the head of the military junta, Abdourahamane Tchiani, and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of March.
Until the military coup last July, Niger was the last democratic ally of the U.
S., France and other European countries in the fight against Islamist militias in the Sahel region, where jihadists are continuing to gain influence.In March, the junta ended its military cooperation with the U.S. in the fight against terrorism.
The German Armed Forces operate an air base in Niamey, the future of which is still unclear.
State television showed images of a Russian Ilyushin-76 aircraft that had landed at Niamey airport on Wednesday.
“We are here to train the Niger army using the military equipment that has arrived here,” a masked, fair-skinned man in military uniform said in heavily accented French in the broadcast.
Since the military seized power on July 26, Niger has embarked on a new path leading to the diversification of its partners in order to assert its sovereignty vis-à-vis the world, the report continued.
Putin and Tchiani had discussed “strengthening cross-sectoral and comprehensive strategic cooperation between Niger and Russia to deal with current threats, especially in the security field.”
Like its neighbours Mali and Burkina Faso before it, Niger is turning away from its Western partners, in particular ex-colonial power France, and towards Russia.
All three countries have been ruled by the military following coups. (dpa/NAN)
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