Sensitisation to Disability Act continuing in Regions
PRESIDENT of Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities, Mr. Leon Walcott has disclosed that the $1M approved by President Bharrat Jagdeo, in April, for the Disability Movement, has been spent to advance sensitisation to the Disability Act countrywide.
“So far, we have reached out to Regions Two (Pomeroon/ Supenaam) and Five (Mahaica / Berbice) and we plan to go to Region Six (East Berbice/ Corentyne) this Saturday,” Walcott reported yesterday.
He said the work they are doing has a multiplying effect and, by reaching one person, they reach entire families.
Walcott said the different stakeholders in the Disability Movement are working together on the efforts that began with the National Commission on Disability and Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) collaborating to train facilitators.
“Many of the facilitators, themselves, are persons with disabilities,” he explained.
According to him, they have been well received and the response from the regions is encouraging, because the participants hail from a cross-section of society.
“We have representatives from ministries, the NDCs (Neighbourhood Democratic Councils) and community workers, as well as persons with disabilities,” he elaborated.
The Guyana Persons with Disability Act was passed in the National Assembly and assented to by President Jagdeo in the latter part of 2010 and the National Commission on Disability (NCD) is responsible for addressing implementation, monitoring and sensitisation of the provisions made under the legislation.
Other forms of support anticipated for persons with disabilities include increased subventions, dedicated provisions for employment in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) field and greater access to information technology (IT) through the One Laptop per Family Project (OLFP).