Reema calls for needs of disabled to be given priority

She says they are not adequately provided for in public places and at private functions. She is also calling for greater emphasis to be placed on the needs of people with Autism Spectrum Disorder and for the formulation of national policies on education and in other areas of national development.

This, she said, will ensure that all citizens are able to contribute to this country’s sustainable development regardless of their abilities.

Carmona was speaking at the opening of a regional workshop on the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Hyatt Regency, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.

The workshop was organised by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the local office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

Carmona suggested that the participants encourage leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to declare a caribbean decade for disabled people to run from 2018 to 2028 which, she said, would inspire action to bring the differently abled fully into Caribbean society.

She urged presenters and participants to deal with the issue of reporting, remarking that for too long there had been a lag in the submission of national reports to the various human rights committees and that the reports are used as one of the ways of measuring the national implementation of the obligations under the various human rights treaties. She said what she called “reporting fatigue” might be due to the absence of comprehensive data which is often an important part of the reporting mechanism.

“There must be proper data and properly directed data collecting in the Caribbean. Data informs policy, effective planning, transformational initiatives, holistic philosophies and the necessary human activism.” Minister of Social Development and Family Services Cherrie-Ann Critchlow-Cockburn said since June 2015, when this country ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the ministry made efforts to meet the obligations under the convention.

She said a critical part of this obligation was the revision of the draft National Policy on Persons with Disabilities which, she said, was intended as a framework for the government’s mandate in supporting the initiative. Critchlow- Cockburn said the ministry plans, very soon, to hold a series of consultations to finalise the revised draft policy.

She said while a lot is being done, much more needs to be done both here and in the other countries which were represented at the meeting. Critchlow- Cockburn said her ministry is committed to working closely with the UNDP to protect the rights of those with disabilities.

Richard Blewitt, the UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative for TT, told Newsday many people with disabilities have “tremendous assets and capacities” to offer society. He expects that all government officials at the conference would be inspired to take up their responsibilities to follow up and report, on a timely basis, the progress they have made in their countries in ratifying the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

He said while many Caribbean countries had ratified the convention, reporting on their work was an important part of the process because it was about accountability and transparency.