June 29, 2019
Voice of Specially Abled People (VOSAP), an NGO based in the United
States, has some good news for India. It has launched an app that will help
locate and identify buildings that are disabled-friendly in India.
At the United Nations Conference of State Parties to the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, COSP12 NGO
VOSAP, which stands for Voice of Specially Abled
People announced that it plans to launch a public utility mobile app
that will help locate disabled-friendly buildings in India.
This is critical in a country like India where accessibility remains a major
barrier to the disabled community stepping out of their homes. At the UN
conference, representatives got to hear the details of the app and how it
could act as a game changer in the lives of people of disabilities.
A Voice of SAP’s flagship initiative, the VOSAP mobile app is now becoming
the leading ‘public utility app’ for finding accessible places as well as
empowering activism to create a demand for accessibility, –
Manushri Desai and Shivam Saran, Team VOSAP
The VOSAP team says that the mobile app will serve as a platform that brings
together leaders and volunteers. The aim is to build a database of accessible
friendly buildings all over India.
“By inspiring actionable advocacy through technology, Voice of SAP has urged
the Government of India to accept our initiative of Accessible India Campaign
which was then launched nationwide by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” the team
said.
VOSAP has 8,000 plus registered volunteers across the world. There are plans
to expand the concept to other countries as well.
Pranav Desai, Founder, VOSAP, said the
volunteers are committed to becoming disability rights activists in their
communities. “VOSAP Has enabled individuals with assistive devices and kits
for self-employment to promote the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals,” he said, adding that India was the first focus country for VOSAP and
there are plans to roll out a similar accessibility and advocacy network to
other nations.
VOSAP is bringing about change by working with academic institutions to
create awareness among students about their individual responsibility to
enable and empower people with disabilities. “By building a network of
activists, we can ignite mass awareness campaigns and reinforce the reality
that disability is everybody’s concern,” said Manushri and Shivam.
Source: https://newzhook.com/story/22677
