Federation of Disability Organizations in Malawi (FEDOMA) has decried the institutions’ and governments’ inability to sustain projects aimed at empowering people with disabilities in the country.

FEDOMA’s Programs Manager, Symon Munde made the sentiments on Tuesday as Malawi joined the global community is commemorating International Day of People with Disabilities.

“Although the country has various legal frameworks and strategies aimed at promoting the people with disabilities, it still relies on projects to reach to the target audience and implement the strategies,” he said.

“It becomes very difficult to sustain the projects once the projects phase out and this draws us back to square one, and our progress is hardly seen.”

Munde further added that the country is still lagging behind in terms of promoting inclusive education for all children.

“We are still facing challenges such as unavailability of friendly environments in various schools across the country and lack of resources such as learning materials (brail machines) for the visually impaired and hearing aids to support children with hearing impairments as a draw back when it comes to children with disabilities accessing quality education,” he explained.

He said it is high time government treated the issue with all the urgency and priority it deserves because it is also crucial in as far as education and development in concerned in the country.

Every year on December 3, the International Day of People with Disabilities is held. It is a UN-recognized day, which is observed all throughout the world.

The day aims at increasing public awareness, understanding and accepting people with disabilities and celebrating their achievements and contributions.

This year the theme of World Disability Day is ‘Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities and their leadership: taking action on the 2030 Development Agenda’.