Vulnerable Persons Rights: NGO Launches Project On Down Syndrome

Worried about the rising discrimination against people with down syndrome in the society, a non-governmental organization, Basileia Vulnerable Persons Rights Initiative (BVPRI), at the weekend, launched a project to advocate policies to tackle issues around Down Sydrome and provide support for person’s living with it and their caregivers.
 Executive Director of the NGO, Barr. Jennifer Agbaji called for more and intensive sensitization, better knowledge sharing and capacity building initiatives among key stakeholders. 
She expressed deep concerns over how people with Down Syndrome have been subjected to exclusion from society and discriminated across board; in educational settings, employment, and in their communities, in which much of it is due to a lack of understanding and education and exposure to people livimg with it.
The project according to the initiator, is the first ever project that will look at not just Inclusion of person’s with Down Sydrome but advocate for a resource based Mental health Policies, community based and mental health support for Person’s With Down Sydrome and their caregivers.
Barr. Agbaji, stressed that in Nigeria, at both national and subnational levels, there are Acts with wide-ranging civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on disability. However, the acceptance and equality for those with Down syndrome and other disabilities is still very much far from being a reality.
“As some one who works with person’s with down syndrome, it suffices to say that Down syndrome is not a death sentence, neither is it a sentence into isolation as the case currently seems to be. People with down syndrome just like every other person sitting here, or out there have genuine education and health needs. They also have social needs, and they have the right just like everyone else to have access to them. 
“We would like to see the coverage of extent policies and laws extended to protect and support the development of persons with down Syndrome and provide them access to support services that would cushion the economic loss of their caregivers/parents. By these concrete actions, we can demonstrate our firm determination to work toward the ambitious goal of eliminating all forms of discrimination and strengthen the support systems and designing truly inclusive systems”. She explained.
Barr. Agbaji, disclosed that a new evidence has revealed that the IQs of people with Down syndrome have increased 20 points and the overwhelming majority will learn how to read and write.
According to her; “In Nigeria, we have the Disability law, but do we have accommodation for specific forms of disabilities? Do we look into uniqueness of every disability, do we give everyone what they actually need? When would we pay a little more attention to the needed appropriate services that EVERYONE needs? is that not what we call inclusion?
“Why does taking a stand against discrimination of persons with Down syndrome matter? People with Down Syndrome have the same human rights as everyone else. Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life”, she noted.
The NGO further canvassed for immediate action to be taken towards improving the living conditions of person with Down syndrome, saying the ignorance surrounding their condition can be corrected and deliberate concrete actions taken to meet their needs can have far reaching effect on their development. 
Agbaji, further explained that down syndrome is one of those medical conditions that is still stigmatized even at this age of so much information and It is medically seen as a genetic disorder caused when abnormal cell division results in extra genetic material from chromosome 21 which causes a distinct facial appearance, intellectual disability and developmental delays.
“People with Down Syndrome are often seen as unpredictable, uneducable, unemployable and burdens on society, resulting to discriminations from medical communities, educators and society at large. This erroneous acts results from outdated, inaccurate information about the condition and have been some of the many causes of stigma, against persons with this condition”, she said.
She called for partnership from governments, private sectors and private individuals, the media, donor agencies/local and INGOs and the wider civil society, believing that only through collaboration they can knock down every barrier to the social acceptance of persons with Down syndrome.