“Equality is the public recognition, effectively expressed in institutions and manners, of the principle that an equal degree of attention is due to the needs of all human beings.” Simone Weil a French philosopher once said. And these words fits the understanding of the National Council of Persons with disabilities (NCPD) when it comes to the public recognition and the government support to ensure that persons with disability are not left behind in various programmes especially in employment. Emmanuel Ndayisaba, NCPD Executive Secretary says that the government has been supporting persons with disabilities over the years and particularly early four years ago when it started providing financial support through National Employment programme (NEP -Kora Wigire). Speaking to The New Times last week, Ndayisaba said that a number of persons with disability are currently venturing into income generating activities hence changing their lives. He said that there are 239 cooperatives with over 11,029 members who benefited from the programme and whose lives have changed. The Support is channeled through BDF and the money goes to Umurenge Savings Credit and Co-operatives who offer the loan to beneficiaries. As a result, persons with disabilities have pulled off to create own jobs thanks to the support offered through NEP. “The support we provided by NEP-Kora Wigire is diverse and has helped persons with disabilities improve their living conditions,” he said. He said in the last three fiscal years, NCPD received Rwf350m while in the last fiscal year, it received Rwf80m. He said the support is channeled through Business Development Fund (BDF) and is meant to help persons with disabilities whose attractive projects create jobs and change their lives. He said that lives have significantly improved their lives and are not dependent on others unlike before. “ Before we get the support, many persons with disabilities were jobless given their disability, you know the issue of lack of employment is a serious one even for those who are not disabled, currently most of them have businesses which are running well. Some have ventured into farming others in business and all this have changed their lives, we hope that persons with disabilities will live better life in the future,” he said He said that persons are good at using little support they get and urged the government to do more to ensure that more people are supported through the programme. “Persons with disabilities have considered themselves as if they were discriminated and whatever little support they get, they take it seriously, while you can find malpractices in most cooperatives our cooperatives try to be clean,” he said. “But we still have a big number people who are yet to get the support, if we have 239 cooperatives, the rest of Persons with Disabilities have not yet been covered, there are also some pending projects which are yet to be considered” he added. Mindset shift among members of society Ndayisaba said that there is a significant shift of mindset among members of society and this is justified by the fact that persons with disabilities are free to do business and venture into various income generating activities just like other Rwandans. “The society also changed their mindset, everyone understands that persons with disabilities is no longer a problem. Besides persons with disabilities are no longer much discriminated and they are not shy of their status, such mindset change has improved living conditions of persons with disabilities,” he noted. According to Ndayisaba, persons with disabilities who acquire the loan pay only half of it while rest is just a government grant.
