Gambia – ‘Article 19’, a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) whose mandate is to defend freedom of expression and access to information, in collaboration with the Gambia Federation of the Disabled, held a day long stakeholders forum to advocate for the enactment of the Disability Rights Bill and its implementation. The objective of the forum is for draft disability rights bill to be enacted and operationalized by the end of the year, for the empowerment of the Gambia Federation for the Disabled and the enhancement of the socio-economic status of the Disabled among others.
Participants explained that in the past twenty-two year rule of the former regime, rights of minorities particularly persons with disability, was side-lined and little or nothing was given to their human rights status including access to public facilities.
According to participants, it was anticipated that the democratic change of government will bring in laws, policies and institutional mechanisms that will better strengthen democracy, rule of law and the human rights of all persons as upheld by the Constitution.
