There is a long way to go for the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities, concluded the joint meeting of the Labor and Human Rights Committee, which met on Monday to review the progress of government departments in implementing the UN Convention on Disability Issues.
Labor Committee Chairman Andreas Kavkalias spoke of the need for a legislative framework that supports the demands of persons with disabilities, both as included in the UN Charter and as submitted by the special committee monitoring the implementation of the UN Convention.
Organizations of persons with disabilities highlighted some of the problems they face. Mr Christakis Nicolaides, on behalf of the Cyprus Confederation of Disabled People's Organisations (CYSOA) said that the Department of Social Inclusion had excluded disabled people's organisations from participating in various committees in which they had previously participated, while the sponsorship that the organisations receive from the state had also been reduced. Furthermore, he referred to the exclusion of people with disabilities from the labour market and denounced the Department of Social Inclusion for implementing policies of exclusion and discrimination against people with disabilities. He welcomed the decision to digitise the procedure, but pointed out that the delays are long. She also called for the creation of a special budget for actions under the implementation of the UN Convention, and said that people with mild disabilities do not receive the support they need.
Ms. Aikaterini Stoyianni, director of the Agios Stefanos Foundation, spoke about the need to educate society on how to deal with people with disabilities, as she said there is a phobic attitude. She spoke of the need to introduce a course on diversity and empathy to change the mindset of society. In addition, she referred to the need to create a grid of personalised care structures to avoid institutionalisation.
From the Association of Persons with Autism, Ms Tasoula Georgiadou said state sponsorship to the organisations was not enough to cover the benefits they offer, which should normally be provided by the state itself. Furthermore, she expressed concern about the absence of independent living facilities for people with autism. In addition, from the same association, Ms Athena Constantinou spoke about the need to criminalise discrimination against people with disabilities.
Finally, Mr Xenophontas Ioannidis, on behalf of the Pancyprian Elpidophoros Group, noted the complete lack of progress for people with mental disabilities.
Answering questions about the actions of the Department of Social Inclusion and the Ministry of Labour, Ms. Christina Flourentzou-Kakouri, said that they are closely cooperating with the CPSOA on the issues mentioned. She spoke about the National Action Plan for Disability and the National Strategy 2018-2028, which, for the three-year period 2021-2023, includes 135 actions to be implemented by 8 Ministries and 3 Deputy Ministries. Flourentzou said that the Ministry is currently in the process of consulting with the CPSOA on a new legislation for persons with disabilities, which will be based on new services, such as the personal assistant and the decision-making advisor, which will abolish the anachronistic institution of the guardian, while absorbing social benefits, releasing the disability benefits from the EEE. He said the consultation would be opened to other organisations in the coming period.
In addition, he referred to assisted living homes, saying that 11 homes for people with intellectual disability, autism and visual impairment were in operation and currently 43 people were being served in them, with about 30 more applications pending. "We are also turning to home support," she said, because of the strong institution of the family in Cyprus.
The President of the Human Rights Committee, AKEL MP Irini Charalambidou, in statements after the end of the meeting, said that "our goal as committees is to try to manage" the problems that exist and "push towards their implementation".
Regarding independent living and integration, Ms. Charalambidou said it is an issue of great concern to persons with disabilities and efforts should be intensified, as should the expansion of care plans. "Each person has his or her own particularities and must be treated with special sensitivity. We as a state must understand that the UN provisions for persons with disabilities must be adopted at an overall level and there must be application of the principle of differentiation, respect for diversity and a degree of education," he said.
For his part, the President of the Labour Committee, AKEL MP Andreas Kavkalias, said that the main conclusion of the joint session of the two committees is that the state continues to fail to meet its obligations under the UN Convention with regard to people with disabilities. He added that the recommendations made by the UN Committee monitoring the implementation of the Convention in Cyprus since 2017 remain unanswered. "Here we see that a lot still needs to be done in order for the Republic of Cyprus to comply with these recommendations."
In addition, regarding the disability assessment system, Kavkalias stressed the importance of filing a separate, new legislation for persons with disabilities, "in order to finally stop the suffering and the fact that persons with disabilities are currently deprived of basic benefits and services, as implemented by the ECA legislation."
Finally, he said that there is a need for a roadmap so that within a reasonable period of time, about two months, the proposals of the executive, which will be made through consultation with the Organised Disability Movement, will come forward for the adoption of bills and there will be a meaningful outcome to this effort.
EDEK MP Andreas Apostolou noted in his remarks that "supporting people with disabilities is not just about benefits. It is the participation of children with disabilities as equals in education, through a new framework of integrated education, which we have been waiting for many years in the Education Committee, it is to have a health system so that it meets all the needs for health services and supportive therapies for people with disabilities."
In addition, he made reference to age limits on benefits and delays in benefits and their assessment, while also referring to structures that the state should create, such as assisted living homes "and also day centres, for people with disabilities when they graduate from special schools."
Source: CNA
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