Lilongwe NGO fights for the rights of people living with down syndrome

Centre for Down Syndrome Sickle Cell and Autism (CEDOSSA) has called for inclusion of people living with the condition into all national programming.

Speaking in Lilongwe when the organisation Executive Director Lauryn Sulani hosted the community living with the condition in the area of Kaliyeka , the ED said community and society should not stigmatise people living with the condition.

She said the Vision, of CEDOSSA is to ensure persons with Down Syndrome and Autism are accepted and enjoying their human rights like anyone else in Malawi and as a country its time to change the Mindset.

commenting on the importance of the interface with the down syndrome community, the ED said the event was so important because it helped interact with the kids as well as their parents outside the work environment, because her organization deals with people who have got down syndrome as well as autism.

” So we have set aside this day because we want to have fun to interact, ” she said.

Mrs Esther Mbenje from Kaliyeka area commended Sulani for the initiative.

Mbenje said the meeting has helped to provide the platform on challenges which the parents and guardians face in caring people with down syndrome condition especially them when going to school.

” We need well wishers to come and train them with vocational skills so that they can grow as productive citizens, ” he said.

CEDOSSA was registered few years ago with the mission of empowering persons living with Down Syndrome and Autism so that they are able to attain their human rights through advocacy, skills development, psychosocial counseling and training.

What CEDOSSA is doing is in line with the purpose of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) which is to promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.