LATA Devie Jagmohan, one of the participants of the inaugural National Youth with Disabilities Conference held earlier this month, couldn’t agree more with the recommendation that all government ministries and agencies should have disability inclusion policies to guide the delivery of services and accommodation of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

The 28-year-old, who is visually impaired, was impressed at the support that the disability community received at the event, held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.
“I was amazed by the support we had from government, NGOs, USAID, etc.; I was so surprised to see so many influential people come out in honour of us. That’s one thing that stood out to me,” she reflected in an interview with Pepperpot Magazine.

Approximately 60 youths with disabilities from across Guyana were in attendance and were engaged in discussions relating to the current state of the disability community in Guyana and the required improvements to change the status quo positively.

For one thing, Lata Devie believes that whoever is chosen as policymakers should be able to understand the circumstances of PWDs adequately. “As much as you may try for others to understand what it’s like to have a disability, someone can never fully understand unless they are going through it. It may look easy because you have adjusted and adapted; you can’t have someone making decisions for you who don’t know what you experience on a daily basis.”

As such, having people to represent PWDs in the core areas identified for improvement can help to make their lives easier, Lata Devie offered.
Being the largest conference she’s been to, she felt good to see the diverse group of PWDs who participated and shared their thoughts on things that need improvement.
Asif Khan, another participant who is visually impaired, feels strongly that the Local Authority (Elections) Act, Chapter 28:03, should be amended to remove Section 40 (2) that bars PWDs who receive public assistance from running for local government office.

With a background in politics and international relations, Asif has a sincere interest in national development and should an opportunity present itself for him to take up a political office, it would definitely be something that he’d consider.

Meanwhile, the conference was implemented in partnership with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The contents of the declaration highlight the pertinent areas the youths with disabilities would like to see significant changes. The three core areas of the declaration, in keeping with the objectives of the conference, are Leadership and Governance, Employment, and Accessibility.

PWDs believe that those in the disability community who possess the necessary qualifications should be encouraged to be a part of the legislative, judicial, and executive arms of government and that any barriers that hinders this process should be removed.

Further, they recommended that the relevant legislation should be amended to promote independent, accessible voting for PWDs and that all administrative measures should be implemented by the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) to promote accessible and inclusive voting for persons with disabilities.

The participants reasoned that youths with disabilities should be represented on the President’s Youth Advisory Council and all other similar bodies and be meaningfully engaged by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports.

Regarding employment, some of the recommendations were that the Guyana PWD Act should be amended to increase the penalties for employers who discriminate against employees with disabilities and strengthen the reporting mechanism for cases of discrimination; exempt persons with disabilities from paying PAYE or income tax if their income is below $2,400,000 per year; and encourage the private sector to employ qualified and skilled persons with disabilities through the granting of tax concessions and other special concessions.

The PWDs said there should be mandatory disability sensitivity training sessions for employers and staff on disability rights, non-discrimination, and reasonable accommodation for persons with disabilities; all government agencies should ensure that the budget provides reasonable accommodation for employees with disabilities; ministries and agencies should be allowed to have a minimum of 5 percent of employees with disabilities if they employ more than 20 persons; and that there should be special job fairs targeting PWDs.

The disability community is also calling for the relevant legislations and policies to be amended and strengthened to ensure that all public buildings are fully accessible with strict enforcement and timelines for implementation. This, they said, should include, ramps, elevators, wide doorways, corridors, accessible washrooms, etc.

Traffic signals, pedestrian crossings and other similar systems should be retrofitted or made accessible to accommodate persons with disabilities; there should be a special accessible transportation service to transport persons with disabilities at a subsidized cost in the absence of a structured public transportation provider or system; all information for public dissemination should be accessible for persons who are deaf, blind and persons with learning disabilities; and all textbooks should be available in an accessible alternative format to accommodate PWDs.

These include braille, audiobooks, sign language, and closed captioning videos, etc.