By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Minister of Information and Civic Education, Chernor Bah, on Tuesday, 20th January 2026, met with the leadership of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities (NCPD) to strengthen inclusion and enhance collaboration between the two institutions.
Minister Bah, who has been championing social care advocacy for war wounded and amputees, commended the Commission for its work in advancing the rights and welfare of persons with disabilities across the country.
He said the ministry was particularly proud of its decision to mainstream sign language interpretation in all major public engagement programmes.
“One hundred per cent of our public engagements now include sign language interpreters. We are proud of that achievement and will continue to maintain it,” Minister Bah said, encouraging other ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to adopt similar practices.
The minister noted that the ministry is eager to deepen its partnership with the Commission to ensure public information is accessible to, and effectively serves, more people living with disabilities.
Speaking at the meeting, the Chairman of the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, Brima Abdulai Sheriff, called on the ministry to collaborate with the Commission in organizing a national conference on education.
“Our core mandate is to promote and advocate for issues affecting persons with disabilities,” Sheriff said. “Through this conference, we want to bring together stakeholders in the education sector to better understand and uphold the rights of persons with disabilities, particularly their access to tertiary education.”
Sheriff also raised concerns about the limited use of sign language interpreters by television stations, describing it as a major barrier to information access.
“Television stations are marginalizing a significant portion of our community,” he said. “We want them to begin, at the very least, by providing sign language interpretation during their main news broadcasts.”
In his response, Minister Bah pledged to engage the Independent Media Commission to help ensure that television stations take concrete steps to improve accessibility for persons with disabilities.
