One in every ten persons in the world, according to statistics, has a disability. And who is a disabled person? Anyone with an impairment, whether it is physical or mental; whether it is temporary or permanent; whether it is genealogical, accidental or acquired. And for far too long, marginalization, stigmatization, and discrimination have been so widespread as to be almost a prerequisite of the disabled; perhaps because of the human failing which fuels the need to shun whomever or whatever is different.
There have been endless strides made to change the perception that labels the disabled as useless and burdensome, both by the disabled themselves and champions of people with disabilities. Who can forget or naysay the accomplishments and contributions by people like Lance Armstrong, Yip Pin Xiu and Eunice Kennedy Shriver, and at home, William France, Camille ‘Lady Tempest’ Goliath and so many others.
Despite the example set by lives such as those mentioned above, ten per cent of the world’s population still largely remain the most neglected, least appreciated, most scorned and hidden. This is also evidenced by the fact that as the world observes International Day of Persons with Disabilities today, the theme is ‘Making the MDGs Inclusive: Empowerment of persons with disabilities and their communities around the world.’ The MDGs of course refer to the Millennium Development Goals which comprise eight developmental issues surrounding poverty, education, gender equality, health, development and environmental concerns.
But why is making them inclusive an issue for people with disabilities? Because as a group, they have been excluded from the MDGs. An oversight perhaps, but one which it would appear disabled communities have been seeking to have corrected for at least the past five years.
As Enable, the UN organization working to preserve the rights and dignity of people with disabilities notes on its website, “the United Nations and the global community continue to work for the mainstreaming of persons with disabilities in all aspects of society and development. Although many commitments have been made to include disability and persons with disabilities in development, the gap between policy and practice continues.
“Ensuring that persons with disabilities are integrated into all development activities is essential in order to achieve internationally agreed development goals… The MDGs can only be achieved if persons with disabilities and their family members are included. This in turn will ensure that people with disabilities and their family members benefit from international development initiatives.”
While there are people with disabilities in every grouping mentioned in the MDGs, their inclusion as a separate group becomes even more important when one considers that according to World Bank statistics disability is associated with 20 per cent of the world’s poverty.
In Guyana, government must be commended for finally getting a bill to address the rights of people with disabilities into the House. However, it was immediately sent to a Select Committee, where, given how that system works, it could well remain for the next few months. A sign maybe, that the legislation was incomplete and its presentation to the National Assembly was a bit of window dressing – in keeping with the general treatment of people with disabilities perhaps? Surely we can do better than that.