Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Rosy Akbar Reassures Disabled

The Government has reassured people with disabilities of its commitment in ensuring that they live in a barrier-free society.

“The Fijian Government is genuinely committed to have a barrier-free society in Fiji through legislation which provides equal rights to all women and men with disabilities,” Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Rosy Akbar said.

She said they were working with ministries and other agencies to see that all Fijians were treated equally; where all were respected as the proud citizen of Fiji.

Minister Akbar made this comment while officiating at the Fiji Disabled People Federation’s training for trainers programme in Suva yesterday.

“We are together with you in this fight; we want to remove all the barriers and give you equal access to participate in society, development programmes and funds, education, employment, health care, communication and transportation services,” she said.

This, she said, could only be possible if their skills and talents were lifted.

“We all must see that the inclusion is not just at policy dialogue or policy intervention, but rather a concept expressed in improved livelihoods for people living with disability.

Ms Akbar also urged stakeholders to work together to ensure that the challenges faced by people with disabilities were addressed.

She also reassured the federation members that they would pursue the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities this year.