People living with disabilities frequently face discrimination. In Malakal, 20 of them participated in a workshop focused on their rights to equal participation in every sphere of life. Photo: Nyang Touch/UNMISS
UPPER NILE STATE- Life in South Sudan, an impoverished country recovering from decades of armed conflicts, can be a challenge to navigate for anyone. For people living with disabilities, it does not get any easier, but becoming aware of the human rights that we all have is one way of making life less difficult and more inclusive.
The Human Rights Division of the UN peacekeeping mission’s Field Office in Malakal recently helped twenty members of associations for people living with disabilities accomplish exactly that, by conducting a two-day awareness raising workshop.
“I lost my job because of my infirmity, and I am just one of thousands of South Sudanese with disabilities who are treated unfairly in one way or the other,” said Rebecca Joseph, who used to be a nurse at the Malakal teaching hospital. “I urge the government and our society as a whole to become fairer and offer opportunities to everyone based on merits and merits alone.”
The workshop focused on basic human rights principles and the special convention on the rights of persons with disabilities, including their political, social and economic participation in all spheres of life. It concluded with a demand for respect for these rights, and for society to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone, as is enshrined not only in international law but also in South Sudan’s constitution.