EVERY
December 3 has been set aside by the United Nations to commemorate
International Day of Persons with Disabilities in the whole world. It is a
thing of joy that the theme for this years’ celebration is “Removing Barriers
to Create an Inclusive and Accessible Society for all.” It is a theme that
provides an opportunity to bridge the gap between the persons with disabilities
and the society which will be focusing on promoting accessibility and removing
all types of barriers in the society.
Barrier
in this case could take a variety of forms, including those relating to lack of
access to physical environment, information and communication technology (ICT)
or those resulting from legislation or policy, societal attitudes or
discrimination. However, the major target for international day of persons with
disability in 2012 by the Nigerian Association of the Physically Handicapped
Persons – Anambra State Chapter is to campaign against lack of access to
physical environment.
Accessible
physical environment is one that all people, both individuals with and without
disabilities could use freely without hindrance. Persons with disability
includes people with vision, hearing, mobility, cognitive and other
impairments, as well as anyone who might be experiencing a temporary disability
due to an illness or accident. Accessible environment should also accommodate
the elderly population, which is generally characterized by a gradual loss of
ability of some sort.
The physical environment could be made accessible
to the greatest number of people, with facilities like lift ramp where there
are steps, covering of drainages, Braille prints on lift control panels for the
visually impaired, display of routes on taxis and buses for the hearing impaired, low counters for the
wheelchair users and dwarfs in the banks
and other public places, ensuring that entrance to banks and other public
places are accessible enough and where metal detector doors are used, it must
be manned by competent personnel who could temporally disable the metal
detectors for persons with disability who use iron based mobility aid or
appliances to pass through without delay or embarrassment .
Accessibility
of the physical environment is a key factor to persons with disabilities in
achieving greater independence, participation and social inclusion. It is true
that it affects all members of the society but, for persons with disabilities,
the barriers to equal participation in the society due to an inaccessible
physical environment are much greater.
An
accessible built environment could facilitate great inclusion and participation
and is recognized as a core element for realization of a society based on equal
rights. It also provides people with independence and the means to pursue an
active social and economic life.
However,
the right to participate in the society is not enjoyed by all. On a daily basis
persons with disabilities are faced with barriers, which effectively excluded
them from participating as equal citizens. Many of these barriers related to
the accessibility of their physical environment.
A recent
investigation by the Nigerian Association for the Physical Handicapped Persons
(NAPHP) Anambra State chapter highlighted the issues of accessibility as a
significant factor restricting social participation of persons with disability.
The
investigation confirms that persons with disabilities are more restricted in
accessing their physical environment and thus participating in social and
cultural activities than non-disabled persons. It was also discovered that over
70 per cent of churches, hospitals, banks, markets, town halls, and schools
more especially higher institutions, offices, homes to name a few, in Anambra
State are not accessible to persons with disabilities without going up and down
steps.
This
makes it difficult for some persons with disabilities to visit their friends or
family members, attending church services, other social gatherings and even
work normally in their offices.
These
difficulties being experienced by persons with disability particularly by the
old people in attending church activities, entering banks, markets, town halls
for meetings, hospital for proper medication among others, could be linked to
the major reason why they usually felt isolated and socially excluded.
Despite
the UN convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, Article 9, which
states that every disabled person has the right to participate in family,
cultural and social life, many persons with disabilities from this part of the
world remained excluded from participating in family, cultural, and social life
due to an inaccessible physical environment. The major reason is that those
structures and construction are generally designed without considering the
needs of persons with disability.
The
issue of physical environment accessibility clearly impacts in the lives of
people with disabilities, young and old alike on their level of social
participation.
However,
legislations and regulations should play a vital role in introducing measures
to improve our physical environment accessibility through expediting actions
that will ensure the quick passage of persons with disability bill that is at
the floor of the Senate while it is also expected that all the states of the
federation should emulate the Lagos State government for their giant strides in
passing the persons with disability bill in 2011, thereby improving the
independence of persons with disabilities.
It is
imperative also that all relevant agencies responsible for regulating the
environment, building and infrastructural standards such as ministry of
environment and town planning authorities etc are strengthened by employing qualified persons with disabilities that will
serve as a desk officer and will ensure at all times that our environment is
accessible. This is necessary because, even when the bills are passed into
laws, very little could be achieved in enforcing them without affective and
effective regulatory agencies.
Finally,
the church leaders, traditional rulers, government, and general public should
make the environment building visitable by persons with disabilities.
This is
to ensure that adequate provisions are made to enable persons with disabilities
to satisfy and independently access and use their physical environment without
any barrier.
*Contributed
by Comrade Okeke Ugochukwu Ernest, Chairman, Nigerian Association of the
Physically Handicapped Persons, Anambra State Chapter
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