Stakeholders draw up physical disability assessment guide

According to the 2010 census, there are about 2.9 million physically-challenged people in Cameroon. It is probably because of this reality that government is developing a guide for assessing various physical disabilities in order to know how to better assist victims.

The 2015 Session of the National Committee for the Socio-economic Readaptation and Reintegration of Disabled People, CONRHA, met at the Yaounde City Hall on August 13, 2015.

CONRHA was created on June 14, 1996 by an edict of the Prime Minister and placed under the oversight of the Ministry of Social Affairs. With theme, “The urgency of rationalizing the care of disabled people in Cameroon,” stakeholders developed ways and means of better addressing the needs of the physically challenged.

Opening the meeting, the Minister of Social Affairs, Catherine Bakang Mbock, recalled that developing a policy on assisting the disabled was part of the Growth and Employment Strategy Paper, DSCE. She cited the document as stating that government plans to improve the access of handicapped people to education and training opportunities.

In order to improve the lot of the physically-challenged, the Minister listed among others the signing by Cameroon on October 1, 2008 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People and acquisition of new equipment for the Cardinal Paul Emile Leger National Centre for the Rehabilitation of Disabled People, Etoug-Ebe, Yaounde.

A users’ guide on how the handicapped can access public buildings has been produced while the First Lady, Mrs. Chantal Biya, has offered assistance to disabled people through various initiatives.