NEMA draws public support to disable persons

[FMINigeria]

The Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammad Sani Sidi has called on the public to consider the plight of disabled persons in their communities for the provision of necessary support during emergencies. 

He made the call in Abuja on Thursday October 24, 2013 during the 2013 International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction celebration with the theme: "Living with Disability and Disaster". He noted that the theme explains the reason for collaboration in the fight against the risk and impacts of disaster on the vulnerable in the society.

Sani Sidi averred that persons living with disability are among the most excluded in the society, adding that their difficulty usually increases when disaster strikes. "We need to remind our planners and builders that wheelchair access is needed for evacuation and there is the need to include this in our designs and buildings," he remarked.

The NEMA Boss further reminded the public that including people living with disabilities in disaster risk reduction efforts is not only beneficent, but has the potential to contribute to community-wide human development. "People living with disabilities must be seen not as passive recipients of humanitarian care, but as equal participants in disaster risk reduction," he iterated.

On the significance of the occasion, the DG of NEMA disclosed that the United Nations Organisation has selected the annual celebration for the promotion of disaster risk reduction activities, in order to encourage people and governments to participate in the building of more conducive communities.

Participants in the programme were drawn from the UNDP, ECOWAS, the Federal Ministry of Education, the Albino Foundation, the School for the Handicapped in Kuje; the Federal Ministry of Women affairs, Human Rights Commission; the Disable Rehabilitation Foundation and the Centre of Advocacy for Persons with Disability.



Source: NEMA draws public support to disable persons
Federal Ministry of Information (FMI) Nigeria