|
 |
|
| Last updated at 9:08 AM on 03/12/08 |
Working toward dignity and justice for all 
MARCIA CARROLL
Commentary
Dignity and justice for all of us is the theme of this year's International Day for Persons with Disabilities. Around 10 per cent of the world's population, or 650 million people live with disabilities. Twenty two thousand of them are living here on P.E.I. They are your family members, your friends, your co-workers and your neighbours.
The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities promotes and protects the human rights of persons with disabilities in civil, cultural, economic, political, and social life. However, all over the world, persons with disabilities continue to face barriers to their participation in society and are often forced to live on the margins of our communities.
Many are forced into institutions, others are excluded from the workforce thus living in poverty. Most face discrimination through unaccessible public transit systems and others struggle to find affordable, accessible housing and disability-related supports. All of these situations are a direct breach of an individual's right to freedom of movement and to live in the community. This continued marginalization against persons with disabilities highlights the need for all governments to sign, ratify and implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol.
However, legislation alone will not ensure that persons with disabilities can enjoy their human rights. Governments will need to formulate effective policies and programs that will transform the provisions of the convention into practices that will have a real impact on the lives of persons with disabilities. For persons with disabilities, as for all persons, the denial of one right can lead to the denial of other rights.
On this International Day of Persons with Disabilities let us use 'dignity and justice for all of us' as a rallying call, as these principles are far from being realized for everyone. Therefore, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a time to make a renewed commitment to the ratification and full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
All human beings are not only entitled to rights, but also have the responsibility of making universal human rights a reality for all of us.
Marcia Carroll is executive director of the P.E.I. Council of People with Disabilities.
|
03/12/08
Recent letters to the editor:
|
|
|
|
|
