The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities may seem like more paperwork added to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other conventions so ably written and so carefully thought out.  It is more than this; let us briefly take a look at exactly what persons with disabilities have to face in a world where the word “normal” seems to be the definitive explanation honed by persons who themselves claim to be “able”, but who sometimes are totally unaware of the fact that they have a disability, sometimes small, but significant; and this can range from not being able to hear out of one ear, to those who fall  far below the accepted twenty-twenty vision and may find carrying on a conversation wrought with from minor abuse to downright being treated with contempt, because of a speech impediment ranging from a stammer to, as Moses who was chosen with his disability, being of halting speech.

The Barbados Council for the Disabled has over the past years, sought to deal with some of these problems, purely at a domestic level and have embarked on a Fully Accessible Barbados programme, which seeks to give persons with disabilities a feeling of confidence in their surroundings that goes way beyond accessibility to buildings which house stores and medical facilities.  It asks that every aspect of the society and its surroundings is accessible to those of us who, because of minor and major difficulties in their ability to freely move around, will not be impeded by the fact that they are almost considered non-persons in a world of people.

St. Vincent has recently ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.  This is a major step by this small Caribbean nation, especially when one considers that there has been reluctance by some bigger states to ratify the convention.  However, what has been of major importance is the fact that many of the world states have signed on to the convention even though not ratifying it.

Barbados is one of the states that has not ratified, but we must be aware of the fact that there are a number of legal parameters that must be met, which include reporting on progress and even in some cases meeting the stringent demands of some of the legal aspects of the convention. We must also remember that within every convention lies the opportunity for legal redress, if at any time a person with a disability or the family of a person with a disability believes that their rights are being challenged.  Let us take a look at the preamble of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and see how all encompassing it is.

Section C of the Preamble reads: The States Parties to the present convention, <br>(c) Reaffirming the universality, indivisibility, interdependence and inter-relatedness of all human rights and fundamental freedoms and the need for persons with disabilities to be GUARANTEED their full enjoyment without discrimination.

One can see the completeness of the Convention’s desire to ensure that persons with disabilities enjoy full human status in a world from which at one stage they were almost excluded.

As the world recognizes the International Day for Persons with Disabilities on December 03rd, the Barbados Council for the Disabled continues to fight the cause for persons with disabilities and join in and with the United Nations in supporting the call for the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.