Visually impaired people urge suitable ICT for economic empowerment
Visually impaired people called for making the information and communication technology (ICT) suitable for their use to ensure their economic empowerment and other benefits.
They said that disability is a big problem in Bangladesh where 8% to 10% of the population suffer from different kinds of disabilities. Most of those people are economically backward. ICT can play an important role for their economic empowerment, they observed.
Their observations came at a discussion programme titled 'Transformative Solution for Inclusive Development: The Role of Innovation in Fueling an Accessible and Equitable World' on Tuesday at Rupnagar of Mirpur in the capital.
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Blind Education and Rehabilitation Development Organisation (Berdo) organised the event at its office, marking the 31st 'International Day of Persons with Disabilities and 24th National Disability Day'.
NM Zeaul Alam, senior secretary of ICT division, attended the programme as the chief guest, while Md Akhtaruzzaman, joint secretary of the same division, attended as a special guest.
In his keynote paper, Russel Hasan, who is visually impaired and a member of the general council of Berdo, highlighted various steps taken in different parts of the world regarding the use of ICT for economic and other benefits of people with disabilities.
Stressing the importance of ICT, Supreme Court lawyer Musherraf Hossain Mazumder, who is visually impaired, said ICT needs to be made suitable for the use of people with disabilities to ensure their benefits.
Calling for creating the scope of employment for people with disabilities, he said about 300 graduates with visual impairment are now seeking employment.
Another visually impaired speaker Saidul Huq, called for imparting necessary training to people with disabilities for enhancing their skills so that they can get access to employment. He drew the attention of the ICT Ministry regarding the employment of people with disabilities at various projects under the ministry.
If the condition of people with disabilities is not improved, they will be a burden to society and the effort to achieve SDGs will also not succeed, said Saidul Huq.
