Mr. BIZIMANA Dominique, the president of NUDOR said this during a two days training on the rights of persons with disabilities and international conventions on the rights of persons with disabilities. The training was arganised by the National Union of Disability Organizations in Rwanda NUDOR under the project “Promotion of Anti-Discrimination practices for persons with disabilities in Rwanda” supported by CBM Germany (BMZ) and took place at Kigali from Monday 26 to Tuesday 27 October 2020. They were being trained on human rights and the rights of persons with disabilities.
Throughout this training, attendants were explained on what disability is, the difference between disability and illness and what are the rights persons with disabilities deserve as other people from the community and how to fight for them(rights).
RUKOMEZA Evaliste, NCPD cordinator in Nyarugunga Sector from Kicukiro District, is one of people who attended the training. He said that the big problem is that many people with disabilities have rights and supporting laws that they do not know. He insisted that it is good to have this kind of training to know your rights and laws that are there to help you, especially when your rights are violated. He said “When we have this kind of training, it helps every body to know himself, his disability and know that he/she is able to do something. This differs from the Rwanda traditional context that took persons with disabilities as disable persons who can not do anything and who can not provide any useless idea to the family or the community. Fortunately today some persons with disability have even better performance than other people who have no disability.”
KAYIBANDA Cirillo is another attendant from Masaka Sector, Kicukiro District. He said that as one of person with disability, he was astonished by knowing that they are some rights that he did not now he deserves. “This training is very important to us (persons with disabilities) because for example today I got the chance to know different categories of disabilities accepted by 2007 law in Rwanda. This will help me to fight for my rights because I know my category of disability,” He reported. He shares feelings with NYIRABASINDI Sifa from Kicukiro sector in Kicukiro District who was among women who attended the training. She insisted that meeting with diferent representatives of persons with disabilities in trainings helps them a lot especially when it comes to Question-answers sessions where they ask any questions they want and get responses. She said this helps them to know how to behave and how they can recall their self confidence.
The training was attended by persons with disabilities and representatives of different committees of persons with disabilities on Sector Level. All of them have the intention of sharing the knowledge they are getting to the rest of persons with disabilities they represent and their neighbors. On the Side of NUDOR that arganised the training, Brigitte MUREKATETE, The project Manager said that they prefer to teach persons with disabilities their rights and later ask them to fight for them. She said that after training them they ask them to share the acquired knowledge with the people they represent and the community in general. As a result, the community get knowledge about the rights of persons with disabilities and laws they can face after violating them and this reduces or eliminate Discrimination practices against persons with disabilities.
