Fundong Council applauded for Championing Inclusion
The Mayor of Fundong Council has maintained his commitment in ensuring the inclusion of persons with disabilities in all actions of his municipality stating that Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID) is the best strategy for achieving inclusion. Denis Awoh Ndang was speaking recently during a workshop organized by the Council for leaders of Associations of Persons with Disabilities in Fundong which took place in the council hall.
In his welcome remark, the Mayor stated that the workshop is thanks to the partnership between the Fundong Council and the SEEPD Program of the CBC Health Services. He testified that as a result of the strategic workshops and continuous capacity building of the Council staff by the SEEPD Program on CBID, the Council is poised to implementing its CBID strategy developed in 2020 with a view to ensuring the inclusion of people with disabilities in all aspects of community development.
Mayor Ndang disclosed that the identification of persons with disabilities within the municipality is a priority for the Council given that the exercise will give a picture of the number of persons with disabilities in the municipality. He announced that in her collaboration with the SEEPD, there are many projects that the Council will be carrying out which are aimed at empowering persons with disabilities with capacities that will enable them to actively participate in actions within the municipality.
During the workshop, participants who were drilled on the concept of CBID, expressed some challenges that they are facing as persons with disabilities. These included: access to information, infrastructures, and discrimination amongst others. With these challenges, they further recommended that the participation of persons with disabilities in political, social, and economic life should be facilitated and increased and the database for persons with disabilities within the Council should be established.
In response to the concerns raised by PWDs, the Mayor gave firm instructions on the immediate establishment of a database for persons with disabilities which will inform and guide the Council in her efforts to empower people with disabilities.
With this move, Mayor Awoh Denis Ndang and his team are setting the pace in the race to win the prestigious CBID Award announced by the SEEPD Program for best Councils promoting inclusive development in the Northwest Region. Persons with disabilities in the municipality have been praising the Mayor for the strategies he is putting in place to ensure their inclusion.
It should be noted that at the start of the 3rd phase of the SEEPD Program which focuses on strengthening systems to promote CBID, the Fundong Council and the SEEPD Program of the CBC Health Services signed a MoU which marked another term of continuous collaboration in mainstreaming disability in municipal development. The Fundong Council, which is one of the Councils in the NWR with a strong stand on ensuring inclusion, is on a fast lane to implementing its actions as specified on the MoU with the SEEPD Program. The workshop organized by the Council to develop a strategy within the municipality to mainstream inclusion was one of many actions that it is putting in place to ensure the inclusion of persons with disabilities.