For the umpteenth time the government is disregarding people with disabilities

 

30 August 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

For the umpteenth time, the government has shown contempt for people with disabilities, their needs and the organisations representing them. The bill submitted by the government for the reassessment of disability was drafted without hearing and without listening to the Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled (CCOD), which is calling for an end to the unnecessary suffering and humiliation suffered by people with disabilities due to arbitrary reassessments.

The government proceeded to draft the bill without even listening to the positions of the disabled people themselves despite the fact that the Law on the Consultation Procedure of State and Other Services in Matters Concerning Persons with Disabilities is quite clear: The government and every state agency must consult with the Cyprus Confederation of Disabled Persons’ Organisations before taking decisions that directly or indirectly affect persons with disabilities. The Pancyprian Council for Persons with Disabilities (PACD), which functions as an advisory body, has met just once in the eight years of the Anastasiades government. To all this, the serious negative remarks made by the UN about the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Cyprus must be taken into account.

And while all this is happening, the Eurostat report documents that Cyprus is bottom of the table across the EU with regards expenditure on health, while it also records among the lowest expenditure on social protection. All this confirms the government’s social insensitivity.

AKEL has already called for the government’s practice of systematically disregarding the Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled, the relevant legislation and the rights of people with disabilities to be registered for discussion in Parliament.