{"id":3485,"date":"2021-12-10T09:10:26","date_gmt":"2021-12-10T09:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/?p=3485"},"modified":"2025-06-18T09:48:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-18T09:48:41","slug":"puntland-dpos-step-up-to-demand-disability-rights-and-influence-policy-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/?p=3485","title":{"rendered":"Puntland DPOs Step Up to Demand Disability Rights and Influence Policy Decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Garowe, Puntland \u2013 December 10, 2021<\/strong><br>From August to December 2021, the Puntland Disability Organizations Network (PDON), with funding from Save the Children under the NORAD Program, led a high-impact awareness campaign to amplify the voices of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and support Disabled People\u2019s Organizations (DPOs) in demanding their rights and inclusion in decision-making at both regional and national levels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This advocacy effort, spanning across Garowe, Qardho, and Eyl, was part of PDON\u2019s broader mission to ensure PWDs are recognized as active and equal participants in society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Why the Campaign Was Needed<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Puntland is home to an estimated 15.3\u201315.6% of its population living with disabilities\u2014possibly higher than the global average due to prolonged conflict and weak healthcare systems. Yet, structural exclusion remains the norm:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Education:<\/strong> Few schools offer Braille or sign language instruction.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Employment:<\/strong> Job opportunities for young and adult PWDs are scarce.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Living Conditions:<\/strong> Many PWDs live in IDP camps under poor and unsafe conditions, often facing forced evictions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Representation:<\/strong> There are no legal mandates requiring PWD representation in government policy-making or civil society. DPOs are rarely consulted in decisions that directly affect them.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Campaign Goals<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PDON launched the campaign with four core objectives:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol start=\"1\" class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Raise public and institutional attention<\/strong> toward the rights of persons with disabilities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Empower DPOs<\/strong> and individuals with disabilities to identify actions to protect those in high-risk situations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Encourage PWDs&#8217; participation<\/strong> in Puntland\u2019s electoral processes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Disseminate key messages<\/strong> through various platforms, including TV, social media, and billboards.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Campaign Strategies and Activities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The campaign used a blend of traditional and digital media to spread awareness:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Television forums<\/strong> and talk shows focused on PWD rights and inclusion<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Social media campaigns<\/strong> targeting youth and civil society<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Visual materials<\/strong>, including:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>100 A3-sized stickers printed and distributed with disability rights messages<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>2 billboards installed in Qardho and Eyl with bold, inclusive messaging<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Impact and Results<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The campaign sparked vital conversations about the rights and visibility of PWDs in Puntland. It laid the groundwork for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Greater involvement of DPOs in local and regional decision-making<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increased community awareness about the challenges and rights of persons with disabilities<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>A push toward inclusive participation in political processes, such as the <strong>local government elections<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Looking Forward<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This campaign was not just a public awareness effort\u2014it was a call to action. PDON continues to work toward a more inclusive society where <strong>no one is left behind<\/strong>, and persons with disabilities can fully participate in political, social, and economic life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"738\" height=\"1024\" data-id=\"3486\" src=\"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/pdon\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/PWDs-Rights-Banner-738x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-3486\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/pdon\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/PWDs-Rights-Banner-738x1024.png 738w, https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/pdon\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/PWDs-Rights-Banner-216x300.png 216w, https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/pdon\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/PWDs-Rights-Banner.png 755w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 738px) 100vw, 738px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Garowe, Puntland \u2013 December 10, 2021From August to December 2021, the Puntland Disability Organizations Network (PDON), with funding from Save the Children under the NORAD Program, led a high-impact awareness [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3486,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"postBodyCss":"","postBodyMargin":[],"postBodyPadding":[],"postBodyBackground":{"backgroundType":"classic","gradient":""},"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,93],"tags":[84,89,80,90,92,91],"class_list":["post-3485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-norad","tag-disabilityrights","tag-inclusionmatters","tag-pdon","tag-puntlandelections","tag-leavenoonebehind","tag-opds"],"blocksy_meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3485"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3487,"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3485\/revisions\/3487"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pdon.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}