Public awareness level towards the rights of person with disability (OKU) / Amy Suzie Yenne Livingstone and Lydia Andilah

People with disabilities (PWDs) or Orang Kurang Upaya (OKU) in Malaysia can be considered as one of the most vulnerable of the minority group in the Malaysian population. WHO and World Bank (2011) estimated that there are 15% of the world population have some form of disabilities. According to the statistics from the Department of Social Welfare, the registered number of disabled people is 197,519. While in Sabah, according to Anita Baranting (Assistant Minister of Community Development and Consumer), currently there are more than 26,000 people registered as 'OKU' in the State. The statistics of a OKU given by The Sabah Welfare Department, they have identified 3,912 OKU in the area of Kota Kinabalu in different particular problems such as hearing disability, visual impairment, mental disabilities and many more. The institutional support is in context of providing facilities and helps such as advising, financing, development programs and anything that meet the needs of the OKU communities in Kota Kinabalu.