April 28, 2007
(GEORGE TOWN) The administration is firmly
committed to addressing the needs of people living with
disabilities evidenced by the drafting of legislation
that seeks to give protection and provide equal
opportunities for them.
The legislation which is in its final stages is
expected to be presented to the National Assembly later
this year.
Delivering the feature address at the first General
Assembly of the Guyana Disabled People's Organisation
(GDPO) at the Critchlow Labour College, Woolford Avenue,
Minister of Human Services and Social Security Priya
Manickchand said the administration will do all in its
capacity to ensure that these people can make
contributions to society.
The National Commission on Disability is in its final
stages of preparing the new Persons with Disability Bill
to be tabled in the National Assembly. The Bill
facilitates the incorporation of 31 fundamental rights as
recommended by the United Nations Convention.
Amendments to the latest version of the Bill involved
the addition of further details, including definitions of
terms used in the legislation, more details for each
section of the Bill and changes to the structure of the
National Commission on Disability.
Minister Manickchand explained that Government on
April 11, 2007 signed on to a convention which requires
Governments in Latin America, the Caribbean and elsewhere
to extend equal care and support programmes for Persons
Living with Disability (PLWD).
"The Government is so committed to this, that a
Presidential Committee was established to work with the
disability organisations in Guyana in fighting for the
rights of people with disability," she said
Minister Manickchand said that there is a need for
attitudinal change towards people with disabilities and
urged that that discrimination and stigmatisation be
eliminated at all cost.
"We need to realise our full potential as a country
and make use of all our resources. We should also realise
that persons with disabilities can make a significant
contribution to the very fabric of society," Minister
Manickchand said.
According to Secretary of the GDPO Patsy Mallay, the
organisation serves as an umbrella body for the network
of disability organisations in Guyana adding that it was
established on July 20, 2003 and has so far been
functioning effectively.
The organisation is an independent autonomous body
which was set up with assistance from the Guyana
Community Based Rehabilitation Programme (GCBR) and will
be registered in June 2007.
Mallay explained that many disabled persons do not
have access to education and employment which leads to
social and economic exclusion and these persons are often
trapped in a cycle of poverty and disability.
To this end, the administration has provided several
scholarships to persons with disabilities to study
medicine and other disciplines in Cuba. The National
Commission on Disability (NCD) has been employing persons
with disabilities.
It is estimated that there are over 500 million
persons worldwide living with disabilities, of which 80
percent are from developing countries.
A National Commission on Disability was set up in
Guyana which liaises with the Ministries of Health,
Education and Labour, Human Services and Social Security
to promote the rights of persons with disabilities.
In the People's Progressive Party's Manifesto for the
current term in office, the Government stated that it
will ensure that each citizen with disability can enjoy
full and equal rights under the law, and be empowered to
participate fully in Guyanese society by completing and
implementing legislation to provide persons with
disability legal safeguards against discrimination in the
workplace, education establishments and medical and
rehabilitation agencies; and improves access to public
facilities.
Organizations like the Federation of and for Persons
with Disabilities, the Ruimveldt Parent Support Group,
the Open Doors Vocational Training Centre, the Georgetown
Association for the Mentally Handicapped and the
Physiotherapy Department of the Georgetown Public
Hospital are providing support services for persons with
disabilities.
Source
www.gina.gov.gy
