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Statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on Disability
Press Conference
Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by thanking the members of the press for taking the time to be here. This demonstrates your commitment to reporting on issues of disability. I would also like to thank everyone else who has joined us in this press conference. I want to thank the Government of South Africa for allowing me the time and space to have some very productive meetings a country that embraced the principles of equalization and democracy at almost the same time as the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities was adopted by the international community. This Press Conference comes at the end of my 5 day visit to your country,
during which I had the opportunity to meet with These meetings were complemented by my meetings with the disabled persons organizations, and the UN agencies working in South Africa. It was also very informative to meet with the South African Commission for Human Rights, and to witness pioneering and innovative projects addressing the needs of persons with disabilities. In short, the Office of the Status of Persons with Disabilities in the Presidency, enabled me to map the South African disability landscape through 30 activities in five days. For that I would like to thank them for this comprehensive coverage—although I am sure there is much more to see and many rich experiences in this country. I will share with you briefly some of the main impressions and preliminary conclusions hoping to have a broader and more detailed report after I return to my office. As a Special Rapporteur on Disability reporting to the UN Commission for Social Development, my role, in a nutshell, is to monitor and assess the government’s implementation of the Standard Rules. As my visit comes to an end I am happy to tell you that this has been an extremely fruitful visit. In many ways South Africa is a unique country, in which human rights advocates are decision and policy makers. In this country there is no shortage of legislations or policies which take human welfare and human rights into consideration. This is the only country I know of where people with disabilities are represented in Parliament by 6% of their legislators. This is the country that has given the world the slogan “nothing about us without us” A slogan adopted by the disability movement worldwide. In my discussions with government officials, I have found a deep understanding of this philosophy and its implications on government action. This was supported by the findings of our monitoring tool: However, legislations, as many of the disabled persons organizations and legislators indicated, Remain ink on paper when they are not supported by effective implementation. This, I believe, has been the crux of the issues that need to be addressed whether we are speaking of education, employment, income maintenance, health care, accessibility, and assistive technology. Yesterday I had a very interesting meeting with the disabled persons organizations. They passionately described their experience in dealing with the educational and health care systems. Especially for children with intellectual disabilities. Also, the challenges they face in the area of employment in the open market, the lack of awareness on the part of many in the private sector. They also brought to my attention the discrimination experienced by persons with intellectual disabilities from the disability movement at large. In a country which constitutionally recognizes 11 official languages, the deaf community is still struggling to have sign language officially recognized— coupled with the limited number of sign language interpreters—this is a major challenge. As in all country visits, I had the privilege of meeting with the UN agencies working in this country. And as with every meeting in all other countries, this meeting gave me an opportunity to explore with them the importance of mainstreaming disability issues into their development programmes. These varied discussions helped me to gain support of the South African government on many of the issues related to my work. Before I close It is these characteristics that helped me to better understand the issues and offer some constructive suggestions. It is also with this same spirit that I will write my report on this visit. Many thanks for your attention. I will take some questions within the time I have left.
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