There is still a long way to go for Cyprus to come close to applying the recommendations of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

 

Statement by AKEL MP Andros Kafkalias and Chairman of the Parliamentary Labour, Welfare and Social Insurance Committee

2 November 2021, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

Today we discussed the progress in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Cyprus ratified the Convention on 4/3/2011.  The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities sets out what the rights of persons with disabilities are in all areas of their lives and at the same time it outlines what the general obligations and measures are that states undertake to adopt.

The general conclusion is that there is a long way to go, a lot of ground which needs to be covered in order to come closer to applying the Convention’s recommendations. By way of example, we mention some of the recommendations of the UN report which the Republic of Cyprus must comply with, such as improving early intervention services for children with disabilities, ensuring the right to independent living, access to health care services for persons with disabilities, equal access for all children to education.

A point of reference in the debate was the need to approve separate legislation for people with disabilities and the Government’s commitment – which has been pending since 2014. As AKEL, we stressed once again that the special needs of people with disabilities cannot be met solely by the Minimal Guaranteed Income.

As a Committee, we have pledged to come back on the issue in three months’ time. At the same time, we have asked the Department of Social Integration of Persons with Disabilities, which has assumed the role of the Central Point for the implementation of the Convention, to send us the actions to be taken by the different Ministries on the basis of the UN recommendations.

Finally, we invited the Commissioner for Administration and the Protection of Human Rights (Ombudsman), which was appointed as the Independent Mechanism for the promotion, protection and monitoring of the Convention, to provide us with figures/data on the degree of implementation of these recommendations, as well as on the omissions and shortcomings that have been identified.