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President of Parliament makes a pledge to advance the rights of persons with disabilities

President of Parliament makes a pledge to advance the rights of persons with disabilities

Words and pictures: Helio Miguel de Araujo (UN Women Timor-Leste)

 

The President of Timor-Leste’s Parliament pledges to persons living with disabilities for more inclusion in the State Budget allocation.

The President of Parliament, Arão Noé Amaral, re-affirmed the Parliament’s commitment to the rights of persons living with disabilities and pledged to assess the possibility of developing a parliamentary resolution on the rights of persons with disabilities. This commitment was shared during a seminar on how to better include disability in the 2020 State Budget organized on 13 June with organizations of persons with disabilities, Parliamentarians, Government representatives, gender equality advocates and other partners, under the joint UN project Empower for Change. Notably, the President of Parliament also said he would invite the Government to submit a proposal for ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Government has the obligation to protect persons with disabilities and not to exclude them from development programming and planning,” Mr. Amaral said. 

People living with disabilities are one of the groups most ''left behind'' in Timor-Leste. For example, seventy-two percent of people living with disabilities in Timor-Leste have not attended school, with girls with disabilities more likely to be out of school compared to boys with disabilities (Census 2015). Stigma, discrimination and limited availability of inclusive services are among the causes of this exclusion. Timor-Leste has not yet ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This remains a key aspiration and priority of people living with disabilities in Timor-Leste.                                                                                                                              

Mr. Cesario da Silva, Director of the Association of Persons with Disabilities in Timor-Leste (ADTL), has experienced and observed discrimination and violence in his community.The voices of persons with disabilities will be stronger if we have the support of a wide range of people, especially from those at the highest levels of the State,” Mr. da Silva said.

During the seminar, several key government members, officials and Members of Parliament presented ideas to better include persons with disabilities.

Her Excellency Signi Chandrawati Verdial, Vice-Minister of Social Solidarity and Inclusion said her Ministry is establishing a new National Directorate on Disability.  

Her Excellency Maria Gorumali Barreto, President of Parliamentary ''Committee F'' of Education, Health, Social Security and Gender Equality said the Committee’s door is open for people living with disabilities.

''We are keen on continuing the collaboration and to hear more about the concerns of women, men and children living with disabilities.”     

Anjet Lanting, on behalf of the United Nations team in Timor-Leste, spoke about how to include disability in legislation, policy and planning. Ms. Lanting commended Timor-Leste for recognizing inclusion as the key for sustainable development in the future.

''Including disability is the right and just thing to do.''          

Ms. Lanting presented data which showed how including people with disabilities has economic benefits for the country.

''Everyone can acquire a disability in their lives, so it is in everyone’s interest to work toward better inclusion, with additional responsibilities for those in positions of authority to make this a reality,'' she said.    

Mr. Fernando da Costa, a representative from Oxfam, acknowledged the progress that has been made by the government to date, but also urged for more work to be done. 

These days we have seen a number of potential persons with disabilities and we must create an inclusive budget to invest in their capacity so they can also contribute to sustainable development,” Mr. da Costa said.

At the end of the seminar, participants signed a declaration for the ''Protection and Promotion of Persons living with a Disability,'' for submission to Parliament.      

The seminar was organized by Committee F and the Women’s Parliamentary Caucus (GMPTL), jointly with the ADTL and made possible with the support from the Joint United Nations Initiative Empower for Change under the UN Partnership for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Oxfam Timor-Leste

To learn more about disability and the work of the United Nations on disability rights in Timor-Leste:  

 

Kontaktu Ami

UN House, Caicoli Street
Dili, Timor-Leste
PO BOX 008
Telp: +670 333 333
E-mail: info@un.org.tl