On 27th October IFTIN Foundation held a community event at the Waberi District Commission office, a venue recently made accessible to persons with physical disabilities. The objective of the event was to acknowledge the Waberi District Commission’s purposeful decision to renovate their offices to make them accessible. In total, 47 participants (16 females; 31 males) attended the event. Deputy Social Affairs Commissioner Mr. Ali Abdulkadir Farah said, “We have purposefully decided to implement this disability friendly spaces as persons with physical disabilities represent a large number of the community in the district and to make sure PWDs access basic services of the district”. He also pledged to support IFTIN’s awareness raising activities to make sure PWDs are included in public and political life. Mr. Abdullahi Hassan Hussein (Chairperson of the National Disability cluster) said, “We are happy that we have full access to district services and got served as normal citizens”. The event served to highlight how improving physical accessibility to public spaces for PWDs provides them with opportunities to engage with local government officials. It was also intended to set an example for other government authorities to emulate. The event was covered by the media and video clips are available on the following links:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=406460536913174
Deputy Social Affairs Commissioner of Waberi District Mr. Ali Abdulkadir Farah pledging to support IFTIN’s work on increasing PWDs accessibility for public participation (27 October in Mogadishu).
