362.
Sign language competency training is also given to persons from different governmental
and civil society organizations. Children with hearing impairments are also trained on sign
language for better communication. Sign language has also been introduced on the Eritrean
television currently running twice a week to enable persons with hearing problems get
timely information. The MoLHW, in cooperation with National Association for the Deaf,
has published the first Sign Language Dictionary and already 5,000 copies were printed and
disseminated throughout the country the sign language dictionary is already translated into
Arabic and English from the Tigrigna version. The association also plays an important role
in advocating for the deaf during court hearing and in helping the court and the deaf to
communicate better with the help of an interpreter. Efforts have also been made to improve
the deaf-doctor communication in hospitals, especially for pregnant deaf mothers.
363.
The Eritrean National Association for the Blind (ERNAB) has 3000 members. It has 15
board members (3 are women) in the leadership. ERNAB is also advocating and lobbying
for persons with vision impairment. It is campaigning to strengthen awareness among the
general public about preventing blindness and the role of community in preventing blindness
and rehabilitating people with vision impairment. Income generating schemes improve their
livelihoods through business and agricultural related activities. The biannual bulletin of the
association, „Self Reliance‟ is prepared in Braille for use by its members.
364.
The Eritrean National Association of Intellectual and Developmental Disability is a
recently formed association that focuses on children with problems of intellectual and
development disability and has 935 members. The association has its own annual magazine
called „CARE‟. It is also undertaking awareness campaigns through seminars to families
who have children with these difficulties and sensitizes the public at large through the media
to send them to school. The association has relations with NGOs like ARCHIMED
(Germany) and Sacra Famiglia (Italy) and organized joint trainings during 2014 -2016.
365.
In general, the favorable government policy, commitment and action, the conducive
social environment created, the constructive role of families and communities and the
general support of the public to PWDs and the readiness of PWDs to be self-reliant are the
main factors that need to be preserved to improve the wellbeing of PWDs. Challenges still
remain in availing residential houses for very critical PWDs, environmental barriers, limited
orthopedic appliances and limited appropriate vocational training and limited funding to
undertake assessments to update the data and situation of PWDs at national level.
H. People’s Right to Satisfactory Environment
(i)
Institutional and legal measures
366.
By virtue of its geographical location, extreme weather situation and also because of its
limited adaptive capacities, Eritrea is one of the vulnerable countries affected by adverse
climate. Hence, adaptation measures to mitigate environmental degradation and in particular
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