UN Special Rapporteur on Disability

Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in all Aspects of Life
Speech by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability
Hissa Al Thani

to ACCESS Abu Dhabi 2008 the Third International Conference on Special Needs
Inclusion for Better Lives for All
Abu Dhabi, UAE 11-13 March 2008

It is a particular pleasure for me to be here today speaking at this distinguished gathering.

It is gratifying for me, as Special Rapporteur on Disability, as a person concerned with human rights and social justice matters, to witness the kind of awareness that has developed and grown in this region with regard to issues, needs and rights of persons with disabilities.

In a few short years—perhaps since the process of drafting and adopting the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities—there has been a new energy among organizations of persons with disabilities, government officials, educational institutions in dealing with and responding to disability.

This is manifested by the number of meetings, conferences, gathering that have been taking place throughout the region; the growing number of organizations by persons with disabilities. But perhaps the most telling aspect of this new awareness if the philosophical and paradigm shifts that have been taking place—I refer, specifically to that all important move from charity to development; from goodwill to right.

This shift has been essential is changing attitudes, in providing visibility to the issues of persons with disabilities and in empowering persons with disabilities to take up the mantle of their own cause and make their voices heard.

Having said this, and I say it with great pride and admiration for the positive steps that have been taken, we need to ask ourselves what is the extent of change on the ground, in real and measurable terms has taken as a result of this paradigm shift?

It is this actual, physical, tangible change that I would like to point out to in my brief speech today.

Perhaps no region in the world today is witnessing the kind of rapid change that this region has been witnessing in the past decade.

Change has touched every aspect of our life: socially, economically, environmentally, culturally.

We have been witnessing a boom in construction, in technology, in communication.

Never before have there been this many universities in our region.
Never before have there been this many international and multinational businesses operating in the region.
Never before have there been so many students of both genders enrolled in schools and universities.
Never before have as many women occupied position of influence and responsibility in our region.
Never before have we enjoyed such a high level of mobility,
have our cities had such an intricate network of roads and highways,
has information been so widely available,
has access to information and communication technologies been as widespread.

In other words, never before has there been so much ACCESS to so many things for so many people.

Dear Friends
And
Distinguished Colleagues,

Let us look at ACCESSIBILITY and its availability to those for whom it constitutes the difference between integration and alienation, between inclusion and exclusion.

For many people, accessibility is narrowly defined by access to the physical environment. And even that definition is further narrowed down to a few ramps here and there; a few reserved parking spaces; an elevator perhaps, that can accommodate a wheelchair; one news broadcast a day in sign language.

However, ACCESSIBILITY is not an end in itself but a means to a far greater end—FULL PARTICIPATION and SEAMLESS INTEGRATION in all every aspect of social life that is enjoyed by non-disabled persons.

For us to develop and maintain fully accessible societies, we first need to consider accessibility in all its aspects:

Shall we take just a few minutes to go through a check list of measures derived from the Rule 5 of the Standard Rules—in which Accessibility is the Target Areas and without which none of the other target areas can be fully realized.

It is not enough to have a few accessible buildings and public areas, or to make only those buildings that we believe persons with disabilities will be most concerned with visiting—hospitals, ministries of social affairs, rehabilitation centers accessible. If we are aiming for full social integration, then all our physical environment needs to be fully accessible:

In order to do that we need to ensure that the groundwork is firmly laid through:

Adopting policies-once policies to make all public spaces and physical environments accessible have been adopted by the relevant authorities then the next step should be:
Passing legislation-legislations will ensure that the policies adopted have a legal framework
Implementing programmes-both of the above steps would not be sufficient if there are no programmes to implement the measures required for achieving full accessibility
Allocating financial resources-and failing to allocate the sufficient resources will hinder full implementation and will reflect a lack of sufficient commitment to the process
Training architects and construction engineers-in order for builders, contractors, architects and engineers to comply with accessibility legislations there should be targeted awareness and training programmes
Raising public awareness-awareness raising programmes should target the public as well as specialized individuals about the importance and need for accessibility
Consulting organizations of persons with disabilities-I have always maintained that the true experts are persons with disabilities themselves and their organizations.
Schools, hospitals, clinics, community centers, public libraries,theatres , places of worship, rehabilitation centers
Public buildings and government agencies & offices
Outdoor environment (sidewalks, pedestrian crossings, parking spaces.etc)-here is another set of checklists, though far from comprehensive, but we need to keep in mind that all aspects of the built environment should be accessible
Land, sea and air transportation-not far from where we are is Dubai airport, a hub for region, which aspires to receive over 40 million travellers a year. How many of its services are fully accessible to persons with disabilities? And I mean by this, not the "backdoor" accessibility where a person has to take a long detour, be separated from his traveling party and go through a different entrance-but true accessibility that provides a smooth and seamless travel experience
Housing-many are the persons with disabilities who leave hospitals and rehabilitation center where they have learned to be independent and fend for themselves only to go to homes that force them into full dependency on their family members

Awareness raising is an important component of accessibility. Not only do places and information need to be accessible, but persons with disabilities and their families, as well as the public at large need to be aware of them.

persons with disabilities only
families of persons with disabilities
representatives of persons with disabilities and their organizations
society as a whole

And again similar steps would apply to making information about accessibility and information available in accessible formats for all types of disabilities would also apply.

Adopting policies
Passing legislation
Introducing programmes
Allocating financial resources
Training interpreters for all disability needs
Raising public awareness
Implementing accessibility programmes
Consulting organizations of persons with disabilities
blind persons or visually impaired
deaf/blind people
deaf or hearing-impaired
people with developmental disabilities
people with psycho-social disabilities
Literature in Braille or on tape
News magazines, general interest publications in Braille or on tape
Accessible education in integrated settings
Educational materials, textbooks, library books in accessible format
News and other programmes in sign language or in close captioning
Easy reader for persons with intellectual disabilities

Finally, how do we as a society, as decision makers, as officials ensure that the right to accessibility is guaranteed and available to all persons with disabilities in the way it is intended and set by the policies and enshrined in the legislation. Are there persons and committees set up and capable of responding to the needs, complaints and suggestions of persons with disabilities with regard to accessibility? Are there mechanisms in place to address and redress shortcomings in accessibility? And are persons with disabilities aware of the existence of such and how to use them?

Ombudsman
Governmental bodies set up for the purpose
Independent expert bodies
Special arbitration/conciliation bodies

It is commendable that this gathering has chosen to couple the issue of ACCESS with that of full social integration for persons with disabilities. I wish you the best of luck in your deliberations and hope to that they will result in real change on the ground and in the lives of persons with disabilities in our region.

Thank you,

Hissa Al Thani