Monrovia – The Italian Association Friends of Raoul Follereau (ALFO) on Wednesday, July 25 launched a new project in Liberia titled: “Disability and Startup, Civil Society as Protagonist of Inclusive Development” (DASU).
Report by Augustine T. Tweh, [email protected]
The event took place at the Corina Hotel in Monrovia and was organized by ALFO-Liberia, the National Union of Organizations of the Disabled (NUOD) and the National Commission on Disabilities.
Giving the overview of the project, the Country Director of ALFO-Liberia, Silvia Poggioli said the project is a three years scheme funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation that started May 2, 2018 and expected to end May1, 2021, with a total cost of USD$1.4 Million.
She said the project is aimed toward improving the livelihood of persons with disabilities in Liberia especially in three of the 15 counties: Nimba, Bong and Grand Gedeh to mitigate some of the challenges confronting persons with disabilities.
Poggioli also added that the objective of the project is to contribute to the reinforcement of the role of disabled people organizations in the socio-economic development processes and in the fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities.
She noted that through the intervention of the DASU project, Liberian Disabled People Organizations (DPOs) and the National Union of Organizations of the Disabled will be empowered to impact the lives of persons living with disabilities (PwDs in the sphere of economic empowerment and self-employment.
Poggioli: “Through advocacy and awareness strategies, as well as an impactful economic scheme, DASU aims at transforming the social and economic dependency in the life of persons living with disability in Liberia. The project intends to narrow down the social and economic disparity gap faced by persons living with disabilities and to create opportunities in buttressing the government of Liberia effort to ensure the mainstreaming of disability issues in the developmental agenda at all spheres.”
The ALFO Country Director also asserted that the expected result of the initiative is to improve the economic independence and the social participation of 120 PwDs through the support of existing businesses and the creation of 30 start-ups for their self-employment, as well as to facilitate the inclusion of people with mental illness.
Also speaking on behalf of the Vice President as keynote speaker, Isaac T. Kiba described the initiative as a “significant move” in shifting the destiny of PwDs to meet their full potential.
“The project addresses a concern which is so significant to me – to make sure people with disabilities are fully included in economic life, that they can get a job, have dignities in everything they do, and exercise their full rights as citizens,” Kiba said.
He noted that PwDs are the poorest of the poor and the forgotten people in society, asserting that the office of the Vice President has begun some efforts through the Group of 77 to include all categories of disabilities for employment.
“The office of the Vice President described the project as a demonstration of the Italian Government’s deep commitment to working as partners in supporting the most vulnerable in society, persons with disabilities and in fostering sustainable development in Liberia.
“Our government is sensible of this and have already begun a broad-based consultation with the introduction of the “Pro-Poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development”, which has taken into key considerations persons living with disabilities,” he said.
However, he also called on the project actors to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation of the specified initiatives outlined in the scheme.
ALFO is a non-governmental European organization founded in 1961 with its headquarters in Bologna, Italy. ALFO is working in the field of international health co-operation and is an official partner of the World Health Organization.
ALFO is presently working in 10 countries in Africa, Asia and South America, with 33 projects of health Cooperation.
Since 2010, ALFO-Liberia has been supporting projects for and with people with disabilities. ALFO-Liberia envisions opportunities for people affected by leprosy, persons with disabilities, women/children and members of vulnerable and marginalized communities to lead a better quality of life.
ALFO-Liberia focuses on healthcare, education and economic empowerment to provide better quality of life and creating a large scale positive change.