AKEL on the International Day for People with Disabilities
3 December 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
People with disabilities have the right to live in dignity, have equal opportunities, live independently and be free from any discrimination in life, at work and in public life. People with disabilities should be able to participate fully in the life of the community to which they belong. This is set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities which Cyprus ratified in 2011.
Unfortunately, ten years onwards, Cyprus is still not complying with the recommendations of the Convention. Improving timely intervention services for children with disabilities, ensuring the right to independent living, access to health care services for people with disabilities, equal access for all children to education remain at low to non-existent levels. The organised movement of people with disabilities are quite rightly protesting that its positions with regards the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights are not being heard.
The Anastasiades-DISY government is not proceeding to any substantive measures to ensure their dignity and a life without discrimination. It refuses or even fails to take into account the dozens of negative comments made to Cyprus with regards the progress of the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, while it itself is violating existing legislation. With the ongoing pandemic, people with disabilities face increased dangers. As long as the government approaches the special needs of people with disabilities in a sloppy and economistic manner, this section of our fellow citizens will remain on the margins of society.
AKEL reiterates that the needs of people with disabilities cannot be covered solely by the Minimum Guaranteed Income and benefits, nor by any scattered legislation. The drafting of separate legislation for the disabled is demanded. AKEL remains a consistent supporter of the movement of people with disabilities and of the disabled as a whole in their daily struggle for a life with dignity, to secure their rights, for the eradication of exclusion and discriminations, for their inclusion in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.
