Today is the last day of registration for the Nuanua O Le Alofa [N.O.L.A] Samoa Disability Human Rights Awards.
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Held for the second time, the awards programme recognises initiatives by individuals, non-governmental organisations and government ministries, in promoting equal rights for people with disabilities.
The programme started last year, and is divided into three main categories.
The first award is called the “Ministry of the Year Award”.
This is a new category added to the programme, said N.O.L.A representative, Fa’aolo Utumapu-Utailesolo.
“This is awarded to a government ministry who has and continues to portray the protection and promotion of the rights of persons with disabilities in its strategies, polices, programs and services,” she explained.
The second category is the “N.G.O of the Year Award”, which is also known as the Private Sector of the Year Award.
“This is in recognition of the work of civil society to create an enabling environment for persons with disabilities.”
The final category is called the “Disability Champion Award”.
It recognises individuals with or without disabilities that have and continue to show significant changes to the delivery of services and programmes to promote a barrier-free and rights-based Samoa for persons with disabilities.
“The timeframe for this programme is one year,” said N.O.L.A representative Andrew Taofi. “This means that for this particular programme, we are looking at the work done by individuals, N.G.Os and government ministries from 2014-2015.
He added that the main motive behind the programme was to create awareness on the equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.
Moreover, N.O.L.A believed that giving credit to the initiatives that had been put forth by others in protecting and promoting the rights of people with disabilities could help break down the barriers preventing persons with disabilities from having equal opportunities. It was hoped the awards programme would encourage more organisations, government ministries and individuals to help address and recognize the rights of people with disabilities.
Entries for the programme opened on 11 November and end today.
This is N.O.L.A’s final activity of this year, and a celebration of their hard work for 2015, together with the awards ceremony, will be held at the Development Bank of Samoa Conference Room on 16 December.
Nuanua O Le Alofa is the national advocacy organisation of and for persons with disabilities in Samoa.
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