Inclusion of women and youth with disabilities still needs addressing in the Pacific
The Pacific Regional Conference on Disability 2015 was opened today with representatives from Disabled Persons Disabilities (DPOs), CSOs, development partners and disability stakeholders present to develop partnership and action for the inclusion of women and youth with disabilities in the Pacific.
Speaking at the opening this morning, Deputy Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community Ms. Fekita Utoikamanu said despite the Pacific’s progress of a disability inclusive development at different levels from one country to another, a lot of issues still remains to be addressed.
The integration of women and youth with disabilities still remains to be undertaken in the development agenda.
“While we can celebrate our achievements and progress this far, we also need to recognise that existing national disability policies and programs often fail to meet the needs of citizens with disabilities, due to a whole range of reasons, including the lack of enforcement, stakeholder quality disability awareness, and collaboration among key partners,” Ms. Utoikamanu said.
There is also a need to create an enabling environment for full participation of women and youth with disabilities in all aspects of political, economic, cultural and social life. This requires improving governance mechanisms; challenging stereotypes and negative attitudes towards women and young people with disabilities, and welcoming diversity;
There is a need to adopt a holistic and multisectoral approach to addressing the multiple needs of women and young people with disabilities. Issues of disability must not be the sole responsibility of Departments responsible for social affairs or women’s affairs. Both public and private sectors as well as civil society and community groups need to be consulted and involved with issues facing persons with disabilities, particularly women, girls and young people with disabilities. Addressing the needs of people with disabilities requires strong partnerships between different levels of government, the public and private sectors, and civil society organizations, said Ms. Utoikamanu
Ms. Utoikamanu emphasised the need for relevant programs and policies to be introduced to safeguard the interest of women and youth with disabilities as discriminations against them continues to be an issue.
“Compared to the wider population, women and youth have a more difficult time finding and retaining jobs and receiving fair treatment on the job and they are twice likely to experience all forms of violence and abuse while their skills, contributions, and knowledge are often not fully recognized and undervalued,” she said.
“In addition, the lack of accessibility and denial of reasonable accommodation in the work environment, in public places such as hospitals, supermarkets, recreational centers are few of the many issues challenging the day to day life of an ordinary person with a disability and, there is a great need to address these disadvantages.”
Focusing on the theme ‘Partnership and Action towards a Disability Inclusive Pacific, this fourth biennial conference aims to form genuine partnership of all stakeholders in government, regional and international governmental agencies, CSO’s and along with development partners to address and advance inclusive development in the disability sector in the Pacific.
Speaking at the opening this morning, Deputy Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community Ms. Fekita Utoikamanu said despite the Pacific’s progress of a disability inclusive development at different levels from one country to another, a lot of issues still remains to be addressed.
The integration of women and youth with disabilities still remains to be undertaken in the development agenda.
“While we can celebrate our achievements and progress this far, we also need to recognise that existing national disability policies and programs often fail to meet the needs of citizens with disabilities, due to a whole range of reasons, including the lack of enforcement, stakeholder quality disability awareness, and collaboration among key partners,” Ms. Utoikamanu said.
There is also a need to create an enabling environment for full participation of women and youth with disabilities in all aspects of political, economic, cultural and social life. This requires improving governance mechanisms; challenging stereotypes and negative attitudes towards women and young people with disabilities, and welcoming diversity;
There is a need to adopt a holistic and multisectoral approach to addressing the multiple needs of women and young people with disabilities. Issues of disability must not be the sole responsibility of Departments responsible for social affairs or women’s affairs. Both public and private sectors as well as civil society and community groups need to be consulted and involved with issues facing persons with disabilities, particularly women, girls and young people with disabilities. Addressing the needs of people with disabilities requires strong partnerships between different levels of government, the public and private sectors, and civil society organizations, said Ms. Utoikamanu
Ms. Utoikamanu emphasised the need for relevant programs and policies to be introduced to safeguard the interest of women and youth with disabilities as discriminations against them continues to be an issue.
“Compared to the wider population, women and youth have a more difficult time finding and retaining jobs and receiving fair treatment on the job and they are twice likely to experience all forms of violence and abuse while their skills, contributions, and knowledge are often not fully recognized and undervalued,” she said.
“In addition, the lack of accessibility and denial of reasonable accommodation in the work environment, in public places such as hospitals, supermarkets, recreational centers are few of the many issues challenging the day to day life of an ordinary person with a disability and, there is a great need to address these disadvantages.”
Focusing on the theme ‘Partnership and Action towards a Disability Inclusive Pacific, this fourth biennial conference aims to form genuine partnership of all stakeholders in government, regional and international governmental agencies, CSO’s and along with development partners to address and advance inclusive development in the disability sector in the Pacific.
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