NAVIGATE:
March 10, 2016, 9:26 pm
By DR PADMANI MENDIS, Advisor, Disability and
Rehabilitation
Sri
Lanka has a long tradition of sharing with our disabled citizens the state’s
largesse when it comes to welfare. The state provides grants for medical
expenses and self-employment, assistive devices free of cost, cash transfers to
those who have low incomes and provides youth with vocational training in
special institutions. The state also subsidizes homes which house children with
disabilities and those special schools run only for them by NGOs and the
private sector. These unfortunately reach limited numbers because budgets have
of necessity to be restricted. Within our society, on our birthdays and in
remembrance of our relatives who have passed on, we follow a tradition of
giving alms as meals to people in residential homes and donate gifts to
individuals. The state and society both see them as in need of "social
services" synonymous with "charity" This has been the situation
in Sri Lanka for many decades. People with disabilities are beneficiaries of
goodwill and charity.
And
yet this article puts forward the viewpoint that Sri Lanka neglects our
citizens with disabilities. The context for this statement is that the World of
Disability has moved on, has changed, and Sri Lanka has not kept up with those
changes. Global Society has moved away from seeing people with disability as
mere objects of charity isolated from the mainstream of society. No more is it
enough for people with disabilities to be just beneficiaries of special state
allocations and segregated services. Neither is it enough for them to be just
receivers of other people’s largesse. People with disabilities are citizens
with equal rights and responsibilities. Both as individuals and as a group they
are of equal worth as any other. They are entitled to an equitable share of the
country’s resources. They have the right to participate in whatever other
citizens participate in –whether it be the same schools, the same workplaces,
the same social institutions. These institutions need to change to accommodate
and include people with disabilities. This is far from the reality in Sri Lanka
– we still do not see people with disabilities as human beings in their own
right with hopes and aspirations, dreams and desires like our own.
Changes
in Disability
Global
changes in disability came about as a result of a deeper understanding of
disability and its causes. First came the acceptance that the situation of
disability is largely caused by stigma and societal attitudes – we perceive
them as being different as human beings with different needs. Because they
cannot see, or hear or speak or behave or learn or move like we do they are not
seen as "human beings just like us". And so the resulting
discrimination, the inequalities, the separate services, the name calling. They
cannot attend our weddings and our social celebrations. They cannot use our
public transportation. It is time for us to change and catch up with the World.
We must aim at removing those barriers that keep people with disabilities out
of our lives, out of our communities, out of what we do. It is time to stop our
neglect of them.
The
acceptance of the social cause of disability was followed by a clearer
understanding of the functional cause of disability. Disability follows an
illness or accident which alters an individual’s health condition. This
alteration we call disability. Any human being can have an illness, and so it
follows that any human being can have disability. Therefore disability is a
part of being human – it is a part of us, a part of the rich diversity of our
human race.
UN
Convention on Disability
It
is this acceptance and understanding that led to the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD) which was approved by the
General Assembly in 2006. This instrument recognizes in International Law that
people with disabilities have the same Human Rights as all others. They have
the right to equality of opportunity and to equal access to goods and services;
the right not to be discriminated against; the right to decide what they will participate
in, have access to those and be accepted and included; and most of all they
have a right to live their lives in dignity and independence with the freedom
to make their own choices.
We
need to thank Hon. S. B. Dissanayake Minster of Social Empowerment and Welfare
and the Government for having ratified the UN Convention on the 8th of February
this year, 9 years after Sri Lanka placed its signature on it in April 2007.
That this delay in ratification was an extension of our neglect of people with
disabilities is a valid assumption.
And
yet during these 9 years some fundamental measures called for to implement the
CRPD have been put in place Affordable and Rights-Based National Policies and
National Action Plans have been approved by Cabinet. Legislation to enforce
implementation of these as well to serve as the local enabling legislation for
the CRPD has been drafted but is yet to be enacted. One can justify asking the
question of whether these were merely tokens over the years in an attempt to
keep a small pressure group quiet?
The
assumption of neglect has further grounds because of the absence of action. We
need then to ask, how serious are we really about the ratification of the UN
Convention? Was it just another token but this time to satisfy the "international
community"? We need to take note of the fact that even after we ratified
it the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in his closing statement to the
Sri Lankan media last month mentioned his concern about the human rights
situation of our people with disabilities.
If
Sri Lanka is serious about implementing the Convention and improving the lives
of our disabled children and adults, we need to take the next step called for
in the Convention. We need to establish a body such as a National Disability
Commission to see that that the Convention is implemented through the
cabinet-approved National Action Plan for Disability. Article 33 of the
Convention describes how implementation is to be done within countries and the
need for a mechanism within Government. The UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights elaborates on this further in a special report. This Report in no
uncertain terms calls for this body to be placed "at the most senior level
of Government close to the heart of Government such as in the Office of the
President or Prime Minster .. ". The High Commissioner’s report states
clearly that it should best not be under a single ministry such as social
welfare, labour or education. Reasons for this are that this Body within the
Government responsible for the implementation of the Convention needs to
reflect" an understanding of human rights" which is a
cross-ministerial issue of immense proportions. It needs to be at a level that
can provide oversight and coordination, and hence in the Office of the P.M. or
President. The mandate of this Body includes also liaising with a separate
independent commission designated with the task of monitoring national
implementation.
Hope for the Future
Perhaps
the biggest barrier in Sri Lanka to eliminating neglect of disability issues is
the lack of interest in people with disabilities on the part of politicians,
professionals and administrators - namely those who have the power to change
the situation. People with disabilities are among the poorest and most marginalized
of our vulnerable groups of citizens. They have no voice. Who will voice
concern for their future? Will the National Disability Commission, the
enactment of a new Disability Rights Act and the implementation of the UN
Convention through the National Plan of Action for Disability become a reality?
When they do, we could say that Sri Lanka has stopped neglecting her citizens
with disabilities. We can have hope that they will be recognized and accepted
as citizens with equal rights, included in the mainstream of Sri Lankan
Society.
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