By next year, Barbados will have legislation in place to improve the lives of persons with disabilities (PWDs) and also protect their rights.
The assurance was given on Sunday by Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, as he delivered the keynote address at the unveiling ceremony of a plaque entitled ‘Honouring our Heroes’, on the grounds of the National Disabilities Unit, at Lower Collymore Rock, St. Michael.
The ceremony was in commemoration of the International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) 2023. The theme was United in Action to Rescue and Achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for, with and by PWDs.
Noting that it spoke to including everyone with disabilities in every aspect of life, Minister Humphrey said: “I think that is the approach that we try to take as a Government, to include every person with disabilities in every single thing we do. It is the approach we must take as a country and as a society and I hope that we can live out the meaning of this theme and include persons with disabilities in everything.”
While urging Barbadians to reframe the way they look at things, he praised the work of Member of Parliament and Chair of the Commission to Improve the Lives of Persons With Disabilities, Edmund Hinkson.
He noted that with the Commission’s work now over, it should see Cabinet approving the National Policy on Disabilities, and the draft legislation and hopefully by the first quarter of 2024, the legislation would be in place to improve the lives of PWDs and protect their rights.
Mr. Humphrey also reiterated a call he made earlier this year for corporate Barbados to do all it could to employ persons living with disabilities. “We have had a number of people when we had our consultations who came forward and said that they felt they were discriminated against because there was no real basis not to employ persons.
“I’ve said to my Permanent Secretary that the Ministry of People Empowerment must lead the way, and thus far we have been able to employ a number of persons with disabilities and we have just engaged another two, starting December 1, and I call on corporate Barbados to be able to do the same. These are important things,” he stated.
Forty-five persons (23 males and 22 females) got their names inscribed on the plaque. The honourees, some of whom are deceased, included the late Dame Olga Lopes-Seale, Ann Hill, and Irving Wilson.
President of the Barbados Council for the Disabled, The Most Honourable Kerryann Ifill; Chair of the National Advisory Committee on Disabilities, Edmund Hinkson; Barbados Council for the Disabled’s Operations Manager, Roseanna Tudor; Special Envoy for Persons with Disabilities, Roslyn Hurley; sign language interpreter Bonnie Leonce; and President of the Barbados Association for the Blind and Deaf, Elviston Maloney, were also honoured.
Noting the significance of the plaque on “the wall”, Minister Humphrey said: “It matters because this wall has on it people in Barbados who would have done something, not only for themselves or only for other people, but for other people who were the most vulnerable people in this country. That is why you have to honour these people who are on this wall.”