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A Voice For the Voiceless

The Advocacy Project helps marginalized communities to tell their story, claim their rights and produce social change. We recruit graduate students to volunteer as Peace Fellows with partners.

The Impact of Service "Speaking with locals and living in a country is the best way to learn about the real lives of citizens, not just the stories in the mainstream media. I will be more critical of what I read as a result of this experience. I also feel even more grateful for my education, and I feel a stronger responsibility to assist others who do not have resources or access to opportunities in their communities." Maria Skouras (New York University) volunteered in 2011 as a Peace Fellow for eHomemakers in Malaysia. For more 2011 feedback click here.

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Partner Campaigns > Gulu Disabled Per... > The Timeline > Lalogi Sub-County...

Lalogi Sub-County Declaration on Accessibility

PREAMBLE:

WE, the representatives of Parish Development Committees (PDCs) from Lalogi Sub-County, Gulu District, attending the Survivor Corps/Advocacy Project/Gulu Disabled Persons’ Union one-day conference on accessibility for survivors with disabilities at Lalogi Sub-County Headquarters, hereby declare that;

NOTING that at least 10% of Ugandans are survivors with disabilities, with Northern Uganda having particularly high rates of survivors with disabilities due to the 21 years of war;

ASSERTING that survivors with disabilities have not been able to readily access health facilities in our Sub-County and that this is a violation of their right to healthcare and to live lives free of discrimination;

CONSIDERING that survivors with disabilities are disproportionately affected by the war and continue to be affected despite the cessation of hostilities;

RECOGNIZING that disability rights are human rights, which are all too often denied survivors with disabilities;

RECALLING that survivors with disabilities have traditionally been socially and politically marginalized in our community;

DETERMINED to empower survivors with disabilities to have their voices clearly concerning their need for greater accessibility in our Sub-County;

EXCERCISING our right to determine the form of governance of our community and committed to ensuring that all community members enjoy the freedoms to exercise all rights provided for by the Ugandan Constitution;

KNOWING that budget allocations regularly neglect the accessibility needs of survivors with disabilities;

DO HEREBY RESOLVE to enact, adopt, and implement this declaration in hopes of better administering to the accessibility needs of survivors with disabilities, and, in this regard, make the following commitments:

i. To support the modification of health facilities which do not comply with reasonable accessibility standards for survivors with disabilities in our Sub-County;

ii. To consequently include the needs of survivors with disabilities in the Conference Budgetary Meeting in our Sub-County;
iii. To act in close consultation with survivors with disabilities, NGOs, and civil society groups representing survivors with disabilities to identify outstanding accessibility needs in our community and make clear financial commitments to remedy them;
iv. To advocate for the end of political, social, and economic discrimination against survivors with disabilities and support their equal position in our community.  In particular, we commit to ensure that survivors with disabilities participate in the entire budgetary process in our Sub-County;
v. To advocate for and support effective and consistent participation of survivors with disabilities in all aspects of civic and community life in our Sub-County;
vi. To raise awareness of the unique challenges faced by survivors with disabilities in our community and encourage planning of community events designed to further encourage awareness of their accessibility needs in our community;
vii. To encourage community members to send all children, including children with disabilities, to school, and to treat accessibility needs in schools as a priority;
viii. To encourage empowerment of survivors with disabilities in our community so that they can better voice their opinions and assert their rights, particularly in terms of their right to access private and public services and institutions;
ix. To provide better access to information concerning the budgetary processes directly affecting the lives of survivors with disabilities in our community;
x. To further recognize those with severe and multiple disabilities and/or mental and intellectual disabilities and better include them in all planning and implementation of programs and policies in our Sub-County;

WE, the Lalogi Sub-County Parish Development Committee representatives call upon the Ugandan Government to:

i. Implement legislation and policies designed to address the accessibility needs of survivors with disabilities to public and private services and institutions;
ii. Modify government offices and institutions, in particular hospitals, schools, and courts, to comply with reasonable accessibility standards for survivors with disabilities;
iii. Urgently address factors that contribute to survivors with disabilities remaining in IDP camps in spite of the government’s resettlement program;

WE, the Lalogi Sub-County Parish Development Committee representatives further call upon the Gulu District Local Council to:

i. Ensure that individuals, enterprises, and government entities constructing buildings to which the general public shall be invited comply with reasonable accessibility standards  for survivors with disabilities;
ii. Modify existing buildings which do not comply with reasonable accessibility standards for survivors with disabilities;
iii. Target additional community funds towards the expressed needs of survivors with disabilities in Gulu District;

WE, the Lalogi Sub-County Parish Development Committee representatives encourage NGOs, civil-society groups, and the international community to:

i. Ensure that the rights of survivors with disabilities are highlighted in programs and project development that they fund, in order to empower and enable survivors with disabilities to assert their rights and improve their standards of living;
ii. Commit to modifying their offices if in fact they do not comply with reasonable accessibility standards for survivors with disabilities in order to facilitate engagement of survivors with disabilities in their programs and project development, as well as offer survivors with disabilities access to services they provide;
iii. Better monitor ongoing violations of the rights of survivors with disabilities occurring in the areas in which they work;

CONCLUSION:

THESE ASSERTIONS, as recommended by us, the Lalogi Parish Development Committee representatives, will contribute to an enabling environment in our Sub-County with full accessibility for survivors with disabilities, as well as a safe and socially secure environment for survivors with disabilities.  Thus, we offer this declaration as a sign of our ongoing solidarity with all survivors with disabilities in our Sub-County. 

In testimony whereof we, the present Parish Development Committee representatives of Lalogi Sub-County, Gulu District, have set our hands this 22nd day of December, 2008.

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