Highlighting the plights of disabled people in Pakistan, a seminar titled 'Journey of Hope' was organised by the H.H Prince Aga Khan Council for Pakistan at the Aga Khan University auditorium on Friday, says a press release.
Welcoming the audience, President, Aga Khan Council for Pakistan, Iqbal Walji, said that the event is a part of the Golden Jubilee initiative programmes in which various developmental projects and events are being organised internationally to commemorate 50 years of Imamat of His Highness the Aga Khan.
He said that the seminar aims at endorsing the human rights of disabled persons, enabling their social and economic integration in the society for a more productive growth and development of the country with provision of a platform for advocacy and knowledge sharing for the organisations working for the betterment of disabled people.
According to the 1998 census, approximately 2.49 percent of the population has some form of disability. Translated in absolute numbers, nearly 3.2 million people in Pakistan are disabled out of which 1.37 million are females and 1.99 million males, while 37.2 percent falls in 0-14 age group. This is significantly lower than the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimate of approximately 10 percent, which is because of a different definition as WHO included persons with mild and moderate disabilities also, the release said.
Rough estimates project that 28 percent of persons with disabilities are literate, only 14 percent of persons with disabilities are employed, 70 percent are reliant on family members for financial support whereas the majority, almost 66 percent persons with disabilities live in rural areas where awareness levels are extremely low (World Bank, 2005), it added.
During the seminar Gul Najam Jamy, Programme Manager Civil Society Aga Khan Foundation, presented the findings of the research report highlighting the current status of persons with disabilities in Pakistan.
He further highlighted that the report is based on secondary data available in the country on prevalence of disability, challenges faced by persons with disabilities and organisations working for them and possible initiatives to address these challenges.
On the occasion, the Chief Guest, Rais Jahangir Ahmed, Chairman National Council of Social Welfare Government of Pakistan, said that the research report is highly commendable as it has been drafted with extensive research and would act as a reference for initiation and implementation of rehabilitation policies for special people.
He added that NGOs, CBOs, professionals, teachers and communities at large have a very important role in uplifting and revitalisation of disabled people and hoped that the Aga Khan Council will certainly take a lead in this direction.
At summation, Amin Hashwani, Convenor of External Events at the Aga Khan Council, announced the launch of Network of Organisations Working for People with Disabilities, Pakistan (NOWPD,P). He said that the objective of NOWPD,P is to provide a forum for organisations working for persons with disabilities to interact and share learning, increase their capacities in dealing with various challenges, and use their collective strength for advocacy of the rights of special people.
The event was attended by officials of federal and local government, senior leaders of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), corporate leaders, members of civil society and media representatives.-PR
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