Leaders 'shortchange disabled' - Daily Nation - Sept 15, 2008

Lack of political goodwill is to blame for failure to implement policies to cater for disabled people in Africa, a conference heard on Monday.

The director of the African section of the United Nations Millennium Campaign, Dr Tajudeen Raheem, said politicians need to view policies on the disabled as a right rather than a privilege.

Speaking at the start of a five-day regional conference on Millennium Development Goals and Disability in Nairobi, he said the fact that countries like Ethiopia, which is considered among the poorest in the world, could invade Somalia is an example of the lack of goodwill contributing to the marginalization of various groups. "Africa is the only continent where governments are willing to fight wars despite lack of basic amenities like education and health for their citizens," he said. Read More.