Hundreds of people with disabilities gathered in Juba to celebrate the International Week of Deaf People with calls for provides professional doctors who can attended to their special care.
Director of the Ministry of Gender and Social Welfare, Omar Sherif al Den, highlighted the ministry’s commitment to supporting persons with disabilities.
He explained that the ministry’s departments, including Child Welfare, Gender, and Social Welfare, all work under the umbrella of Social Welfare to address the needs of people with incapacities.
Omar emphasized the important role people with disabilities play in society and called for greater inclusion.
He urges the public not to ignore them while revealed the plans to trains 40 to 100 teachers in sign language next year in Roboru, ensuring that both deaf and hearing children can learn together in the same environment.
Peter Kachinga, Chairperson of the South Sudan National Association of the Deaf, stressed the need for better communication access for people with hearing impairments.
He urged schools and communities to adopt sign language, enabling children to communicate effectively from home to school and throughout the community.
Kachinga also praised the government for providing education and healthcare services for people with hearing impairments, including sign language interpreters in hospitals.
However, he called on the national government to enhance training for doctors to improve service delivery for individuals with hearing impairments.
Jiji Stephen Mowa, a representative of the organization Light for the World, celebrated South Sudan’s recent adoption of its own sign language.
He noted that, for the past four years, the country had relied on Kenyan, Ugandan, and Ethiopian sign languages.
Now, with its own sign language, South Sudanese children can learn within their own educational system.
Mowa expressed hope that the use of sign language would expand across the 10 states and three administrative areas and mentioned that Light for the World has developed 16 activities to promote the practice of sign language in South Sudan.
He urged partners and the community to unite in supporting these institutions to ensure that sign language education reaches the grassroots level and benefits society at large.