The umbrella body representing persons with disability in Guyana, the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD), recently issued a strong call for the Irfaan Ali-led Government to take certain steps to ensure that the national developmental plans are inclusionary and create equal opportunities for persons with disabilities.
The organisation listed a number of concerns which it would like to see the Government address to make life more comfortable and meaningful for persons living with disabilities. These include: establishment of a monthly Disability Grant in place of the Public Assistance; opportunities for employment of qualified and skilled PWDs in the public sector; improvements in the delivery of education to children with disabilities; provision of low-income housing for PWDs; and provision of assistive and mobility aids.
It also called for yearly subventions to be allocated to disabled people’s organisations (DPOs); the modification and enforcement of building codes, to promote accessibility to public buildings; allocation of small contracts to companies owned and operated by PWDs; and to promote small business development in the disability community.
Certainly, these are reasonable requests being made by the GCOPD, and it is hoped that once the new Government is fully settled into office, it would give serious consideration to these requests.
Many would agree there is quite a lot of work needed at all levels to ensure that persons with disabilities are treated with respect and have access to the necessary resources to help them cope with the challenges they are likely to face. For example, while this country can boast of a good track record in relation to providing quality education for persons, irrespective of geographic location, race, religion or gender; there is still much work to be done to ensure that persons with disabilities have an equal opportunity to acquire an education. At the moment, there are, in the school system, very few teachers who are equipped with the necessary skills to impart knowledge to persons with disabilities. Of note, too, is that most of our public schools do not have the necessary facilities to cater for such persons e.g. ramps and rails etc. All of this makes it more difficult for persons with certain disabilities to ‘fit in’.
Our hope is that, as the Ministry of Education focuses on how to continue educating students during the COVID-19 pandemic, it would not exclude children who have special needs. In any case, a comprehensive plan to ensure that special needs children are fully catered for in the education system is long overdue.
We urge all stakeholders here: Government, political parties and the international development partners, to continue supporting policies that would realise all children’s right to quality education as one way to reduce inequities created by social exclusion.
When persons with disabilities are given a chance to acquire a good education or be taught a skill, they are in a better position to secure a job and, in turn, break the cycle of poverty that normally defines such situations.
In a more general sense, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is necessary for countries, not only to adopt, but to implement fully, because it is a tool for ensuring that people with disabilities have access to the same rights and opportunities as everybody else. As explained by the World Health Organisation (WHO), rather than considering disability as an issue of medicine, charity or dependency, the Convention challenges people worldwide to understand disability as a human rights issue.
The Convention covers many areas where obstacles can arise, such as physical access to buildings, roads and transportation, and access to information through written and electronic communications. The Convention also aims to reduce stigma and discrimination, which are often reasons why people with disabilities are excluded from education, employment and health and other services.
People with disabilities have generally poorer health, lower educational achievements, fewer economic opportunities, and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. This is largely due to the lack of services available to them, and the many obstacles they face in their everyday lives.
The authorities here must continue to allocate resources to ensure all impediments that affect the inclusion and participation of persons with disabilities in society are removed. This of course would require working to change attitudes that fuel stigma and institutionalised discrimination.
