Published: April 10, 2025
MONROVIA – The Executive Director of the National Commission on Disabilities (NCD), Mr. Samuel S. Dean, says Liberia can no longer afford to sideline people living with disabilities (PWDs) in the national conversation about governance, development, and public policy.
“There must be no dialogue about us, without us,” Dean declared Wednesday, April 9, 2025, during a press conference in Monrovia — reigniting demands for the full inclusion of persons with disabilities in Liberia’s decision-making processes.
Dean lamented that, nearly two decades since the 2005 legislation mandating the National Elections Commission to create pathways for PWDs’ representation in the legislature, the mandate remains largely ignored.
“We cannot continue to bear the burden of marginalization in silence,” he stressed. “This country must recognize that we have both the capacity and the expertise to shape its future.”
Dean’s rallying cry comes as the NCD intensifies efforts to build a comprehensive national disability registry — a critical tool, he said, for shaping inclusive policies in health, education, employment, and social protection.
Quoting Gopa Mitra, a global disability rights advocate, Dean said: “Without data, we cannot scale up inclusivity.” He announced the NCD’s plan to roll out digital tools — with support from UNICEF — to collect disability data across Liberia’s 15 counties.
“This is about empowering our people to self-identify and ensuring that no one is left behind in national development,” Dean explained.
He further urged the Liberian government to commit at least 15 percent of the national budget to disability development programs, arguing that such investment would lift thousands of Liberians out of poverty and exclusion.
Dean cited Australia as a model for dedicated disability funding, reminding national leaders of Liberia’s commitment to the Amman Berlin Declaration — a global framework aimed at closing the $4 trillion funding gap in disability inclusion.
“Liberia’s signature on this declaration must not just be symbolic — it must translate into real action,” Dean said. “Without disability equity, there can be no meaningful development.”
Liberia Participates in Global Disability Summit
Dean also hailed the return of Liberia’s delegation from the 3rd Global Disability Summit held in Berlin, Germany — an event that brought together over 100 countries to advance disability rights and inclusion.
Led by Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Jeddi Mowbray Armah, the delegation included Dean himself, serving as Chief Inclusivity Officer, and Mr. Noah Zawu Gibson, Deputy Managing Director of the National Transit Authority.
Dean said Liberia’s presence at the summit showcased its commitment to the global disability rights movement.
He recounted inspiring addresses from German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Jordan’s King Abdullah II — both of whom underscored inclusion not merely as a goal but as a human right.
Dean was particularly moved by French Parliamentarian Sébastien Peytavie’s testimony about overcoming political discrimination as a person with disabilities — a struggle that mirrors the experience of many qualified Liberians seeking public office.
“People with disabilities don’t need to be inspired — they need to be empowered,” Dean concluded. “Liberia must move from rhetoric to action. The future must be inclusive, or it will not be just.”
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