What is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities? and why 3rd Dec?
The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a global day of awareness and celebration promoting the rights and well-being of people with disabilities. This day finds its origin in 1981 when the year 1981 was declared as International Year of Disabled Persons by the UN. However, the UN might have felt that a year is insufficient to raise awareness so they declared the disability decade as 1983 to 1993 but later they might have realized that disability inclusion is not a work that can be completed in a decade. “We need the people to be reminded of,” they thought and hence settled on 3rd Dec as a day to be celebrated each year as International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
What are the main causes that this day hopes to bring awareness to?
It emphasizes the political, economic, social, and cultural factors affecting people with disabilities. Considering my locomotive disability, I have faced many of these challenges.
Well here is an excerpt from a long list:
- Political inclusion – Disabled citizens expect the government to make policies efficient and effective for Disability inclusion. We expect the government to have disabled-friendly public transport and education.
- Economic Inclusion – We expect economic considerations to be given to the weaker section of the PWD community who struggle to buy necessary types of equipment such as crutches and calipers which isn’t fashion accessory but is a necessity. Well, the Indian government has taken steps in the right direction. The Central government also announced an ex-gratia payment of INR 1,000 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojna over three months in two equal installments to below-poverty-line people with disabilities. This assistance is available only for people with 80 percent or more disabilities possessing a disability certificate.
- Social Inclusion – Have you seen a school with all sections accessible to a wheelchair user so far? Or how about a public toilet for PWD users with appropriate supporting bars, nearby? If these questions are answered as NO, then social inclusion is still on the paper. There is a right to education but do you know only 5% of the 3cr+ disabled individuals are graduates? During the lockdown, when maids or helpers were not called essential services, PWDs living independently were outcasted. No one came to help them.
- Cultural inclusion – Lack of awareness is everywhere. There is hardly any awareness of the Rights of PWD individuals. Many times when I do Air travel I have to educate the airport staff that the weight of the wheelchair SHOULD NOT be considered in the luggage weight. We are always treated as a minority.
During COVID, things were very tough. PwDs faced psychological reactions to COVID-19, which ranged from fear, anxiety, panic, hopelessness, and depression to fear of infection. One study found that about 60 percent of the PwDs found it challenging to access emergency medical services during the lockdown, and 4.6 percent post-lockdown. Nearly 50 percent had problems getting health services, while more than 25 percent could not get regular medicines, hospital appointments, and surgical procedures.
Ok, Now that we are up to speed on What and why the day needs to be celebrated, let us understand what is a disability. Is it a disease? How does one get it?
A disability is any condition of the body or mind (impairment) that makes it more difficult for the person with the condition to do certain activities (activity limitation) and interact with the world around them (participation restrictions).
It is not a disease. It is a condition that creates impairment. It can happen due to viruses such as polio, accidents such as spinal cord injuries, or amputation or it could be due to birth. Importantly, we need to understand that close to 3cr+ Indians are disabled as of 2020. Close to 1 billion population of the world i.e. 12.5% of the world’s population is disabled. Disability inclusion is an essential condition for upholding human rights, sustainable development, and peace and security. We all need to ensure that no one is left behind.
In India, we have the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 which gives out proper guidelines for disability definition. It recognizes 21 different disabilities and its needed support environment. However, how much of this Act has been implemented or made aware of, remains to be seen.
What can you do to improve the situation?
- Look for opportunities to be more inclusive of persons with disabilities
- Teach your children to treat those who are different with kindness and respect
- Donate to an organization that supports persons with disabilities
- If you’re a business owner, offer discounts to people with disabilities, as well as their families and caregivers
- Listen to their stories and extend your warmth
In conclusion:
While surely the ramps are built at most places, (the height of the slope still is a problem though), post covid, the world has changed a lot. With the introduction of foot peddles, we have yet to ensure all the areas of our society are truly physically accessible to one and all. And how about Digital accessibility? Have you wondered how many websites or apps we visit on a day-to-day basis to make our lives easy? and are all those apps taking care of the needs of visually impaired or hearing impaired PWDs? Well, let us not go too far, till May 2020, even Aryogya setu was inaccessible to visually impaired or hearing impaired PWDs.
So yeah, we still have a lot to focus on and need to improve our awareness of disability inclusion.