Effort to have S. Sudan adopt UN Convention on PWD hit the wall after document got lost in Parliament

​The push by South Sudanese Persons with Disability (PWD) to have the country ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of PWD has hit a snag after the document ‘got lost’ in Parliament.

Esther Ikere, the National Ministry of Gender, Child and Social Welfare, said the process will have to start afresh after critical documents disappeared at the precinct of Parliament.
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“I think one of the important instruments that we have been working on is the UN Convention on the rights of Persons with Disability.

“And we started the process early in 2015, to ratify the convention, but the final instruments got lost in the parliament, and we are now advocating to start the process from the start,” Esther said.

“This is a very important instrument that we have ratified because it’s a very comprehensive instrument, for persons with disability, and we have already domesticated it, by having the national disability inclusion policy.”

Esther could not tell how long the entire process would take.

“I can’t estimate how long it will take because I know it took us almost a year to reach the parliament in 2015. Since we are not able to locate the instrument of ratification, we have to start the process of lobbying the Ministry of Justice,” she added.

She called for support for the process from stakeholders, line ministries and persons with disabilities to speed up the process of ratification within a year.

She stressed that the ministry was also working hard to ensure that persons with disabilities get an equal share of employment in various ministries.

“We have a five-year strategy (and) we are advocating for employment opportunities for persons with disability in different areas.
“I think the Ministry of Gender has taken the lead, the Ministry of education has already taken the lead, but we also want to see other ministries getting involved,” Esther reiterated.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities along with its Protocol A/RES/61/106, according to the UN website was adopted on December 13, 2006, in New York and signed on March 30, 2007.

The convention advocates for fair treatment of PWD by respecting and granting them equal rights and freedoms.