AKEL together and alongside the disability rights movement joins its voice in its struggle to strengthen its rights
Statement by the General Secretary of AKEL, Stefanos Stefanou, on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
3 December 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
Today, has been designated by the UN as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Three decades have passed since then and our fellow human beings, who face all forms of disability, are still fighting for what should be self-evident. The downward slide into poverty and social exclusion continues unabated.
Our country is bottom of the table across the EU with regards the provision of benefits for people with disabilities. Benefits have been abolished. Education still does not embrace people with disabilities as it should whereas their work environment does not integrate them. Access to public spaces remains inadequate and public transport unwelcoming.
This tragic situation does not lend itself to any celebration, nor does it lend itself to grandiose speeches.
The Anastasiades-DISY government is in breach of its contractual obligations. For 10 years it has failed to implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It is indifferent to the constant recommendations being put forward.
As AKEL we stand together and alongside the disability rights movement join unite our voice in their struggle to strengthen its rights. Not just to make their lives easier, but to give them equal opportunities in our country’s social, economic and political life.
To do so presupposes the implementation of a comprehensive strategy consistent with our obligations as a country. A strategy that will bring changes and breakthroughs such as the introduction of separate and specific legislation for people with disabilities.
To achieve this goal requires first and foremost political will.
Let us start with a change in governance.
A governance that actively respects the rights of people with disabilities and serves equality and equity.
