Faisalabad, A comprehensive legal package must be introduced to protect disability rights, because the existing legislation and policies concerning disability issues do not cater the needs and challenges of the persons with disabilities, and resultantly people with disabilities suffer rather than being facilitated. This was expressed by the advocates of the disability rights from the Islamabad, Lahore and Faisalabad. Naseem Anthony (Executive Secretary-AWAM), Asim Zafar (Coordinator-CBID Network), Omer Pervaiz Advocate (Director-HEERA), Shazia George (Coordinator-AWAM), Rana Yasir (Director-BFVP), Dr. Sajid Ali (Director-SDPRD) and Asma Naz (Director-HOPE) at a press conference held under the Association of Women for Awareness and Motivation (AWAM) and the Community Based Inclusive Development (CBIB) in collaboration with the Society of Disabled people for Rights and Development (SDPRD) and the Beacon Foundation for Visually Challenged People (BFVP) here Saturday. The participants emphasized that media should keep the government accountable through media attention towards plight of persons with disabilities, and should play its role by raising awareness, using proper language and right terminologies when addressing disability issues. They demanded from the government that: (1) The government must create a comprehensive, unequivocal, better and detailed national legislation to make the guarantees under CRPD real in practice, and protect them from all forms of neglect, abuse and exploitation. Besides, the government must revise existing strategies, policies and legislation in order to make them conformity with international disability standards and instruments. (2) The government must set up an independent and autonomous national commission/institution to implement and monitor the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities (CRPD) in a true sense, and should ratify its optional protocol to make a better, accessible and barrier-free environment for persons with disabilities. (3) The government must establish a separate ministry dedicated to the persons with disabilities, catering their needs and rights, to bring improvement in their situation. (4) The government must enhance quota in education and employment for persons with disabilities in accordance with their total share in the total population of Pakistan, and bound all public and private institutions to strictly enforce quota by recruiting eligible persons with disabilities on the reserved seats, and take stern action against elements violating the quota and accommodating non-disabled persons in place of disabled persons. (5) Keeping in view the difficulty facing women/people with disabilities in mobility and accessibility, the disability registration process should be friendly and integrated into one-window operation in all districts of Pakistan at concerned hospitals with the better coordination of concerned government departments including social welfare, labour and health departments. The social welfare department must issue disability registration certificate of unique format rather than different formats for each district, in order to make it valid and acceptable in all parts of the country. (6) Keeping in view our cultural norms, values and limitations, a lady doctor along with male district surgeon must be engaged to complete the initial assessment step for girls/women with disabilities. (7) The government must build favourable environment for ensuring easy access of people with disabilities to public transportation, buildings and places based on universally accepted disability standards, and for the removal of barriers that prevent a person with disability from participating in an activity or receiving services on an equal basis with others. (8) Govt. should include organizations working on disability issue and persons with disabilities into their meetings while making policies and decisions regarding persons with disabilities;
Posted on: Sat, 13 Jul 2013 08:19:56 +0000
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