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Implement measures to improve rights of disabled persons – NCD Member
NCD Member, Komal Singh
Although Guyana has signed on to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the rights of some disabled persons still continue to be violated.
This glaring state of affairs includes the fact that a number of buildings are still not being constructed with proper provisions for persons with disabilities. But the Convention clearly stipulates that all public buildings must offer accessibility to such persons.
Speaking of the measures that Guyana is required to fulfil having signed on to the Convention, Member of the National Commission on Disability (NCD), Mr. Komal Singh observed that “to date many places still don’t have wheelchair access, and it is something that we need to push very hard for so that those persons can go to public buildings and have easy access to services.”
But there is still time to get the obvious shortcomings addressed, according to Singh. He pointed out that Guyana has until 2020 to put measures in place to comply with the stipulations of the Convention.
Article 9 of the Convention, which speaks to accessibility, stresses the need for persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life. Moreover, it underscores that “State Parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure persons with disabilities access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems and to other facilities and services open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas.”
These measures, the Convention has outlined, “shall include the identification and elimination of obstacles and barriers to accessibility, shall apply to, inter alia: a) buildings, roads, transportation and other indoor and outdoor facilities including schools, houses, medical facilities and workplaces; b) information, communications and other services including electronic and emergency services.”
The Convention, which became effective on May 3, 2008, was first signed on March 30, 2007 and currently has 160 signatories. It is monitored by the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
But even as Guyana embraces the UN Convention, Singh said that efforts still have to be made to embrace the local disability legislation. Since being enacted in 2010, continuous efforts have been made, mainly by the Disability Commission, to raise awareness about its provisions.
Singh noted that while sensitisation efforts have been going well, “we need to now start seeing responses and action taken…We thought that it would be a good idea and a good initiative for us to start seeing it happen at Government Ministries.”
He recalled that the current Junior Minister of Natural Resources (former Junior Minister of Social Protection), Simona Broomes, had last year embraced the legislation, by putting in place a ramp for persons with disabilities at the Social Protection Ministry.
Singh said that the Commission is pleased with this development and is hopeful that other ministries, agencies and other public facilities will emulate this move. And he is not opposed to these entities offering accessibility to the lower floors alone for now.
“We will start with the lower floors since in many of these buildings, because of how they are constructed, it is difficult to get them (ramps) up…it may involve putting in an elevator,” Singh considered.
Currently the Minister of Public Health, Dr. George Norton, is looking to address the transportation needs of persons with disabilities. He recently informed this publication that he will be advocating for funds to be allocated in the 2017 budget to procure vehicles suitable for transporting persons in wheelchairs.
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