PPP/C Government to enable a level playing field for persons with disabilities

Dear Editor,
President Dr Irfaan Ali has assured our nation that persons with disabilities will not be excluded from Guyana’s development.
The President gave this commitment to commemorate International Day for Persons with Disabilities 2020, which was observed last Thursday.
President Ali said this year’s team recognises the disadvantageous effects which the COVID-19 pandemic has caused, particularly to persons with disabilities. In this regard, he assured all, “our Government is committed to establishing a more inclusive democracy”.
According to our President, the PPP/C Government is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities are entitled to, and enjoy the full benefits of citizenship and public services, including education, health, and access to electricity, housing, water, telecommunication, and justice.
This is a significant step taken by our Government because physically challenged persons are often not able to get the benefit of reservation in education and employment because they might not be able to meet the general standards. Persons with disabilities face multiple barriers, not just social attitudes but barriers in infrastructure, information, communication, administration and the judicial system.
Our PPP/C Government has demonstrated once more that it is the duty of the PPP/C Government to enable a level playing field where persons with disabilities can participate on an equal basis with others. People with disabilities have, in the past, often been denied access to services of various kinds – from childcare or mental health counselling to help in retail stores to entertainment – either due to lack of physical accessibility or because of discomfort, unfamiliarity, or prejudices regarding their disabilities.
Everyone has a right to an education appropriate to his or her talents and needs. The PPP/C Government guaranteed education to students with disabilities. That guarantee extends through high school, while covering undergraduate and graduate students (without discrimination) Everyone should have the right to fully participate in community life, including attending religious services, dining in public restaurants, shopping, enjoying community park facilities, and the like.
Even where there are no physical barriers, people with disabilities still sometimes experience differential treatment. However, while there are requirements with many (ADA) provisions that must be met at public and Government facilities, cities and towns, educational institutions, employers, and service providers, they need to make reasonable accommodations to serve people with disabilities.
“Reasonable accommodation” means making changes that don’t cause unreasonable hardship to the party making them or to others that party deals with (students, customers, employees, programme participants). It must be conveying that people with disabilities are not objects of charity, but have this same rights and dignities we all do.
The challenge lies in changing the mindset of many Guyanese – to start we need to see more people with disabilities in leadership and decision-making roles in Government and companies We need to all keep in mind that disabilities do not discriminate, any one of us can join the disabilities community at any point in our lives, we must remember it’s not about them, it’s about us.

Sincerely,
David Adams