Congress Chairperson
President of Down Syndrome South Africa
Ambassadors
Local Organising Committee
International Committee
Local Scientific Committee
Individuals with Down syndrome
Families and other Direct Caregivers
Researchers, Clinicians, Therapists, Educators and Government personnel
Ladies and Gentlemen
I am delighted to be part of this momentous occasion.
This eleventh World Down Syndrome Congress is a historic occasion, indeed. It is our pleasure to be part of this important history because this important congress is being held for the very first time on African soil. The fact that our country was given the opportunity to be the first African host, testifies to our continued commitment to uplift the rights of vulnerable people in our society. I am also pleased to note that the congress has decided on a theme that resonates very well with the five key priorities of the South African Government.
The theme for this congress, which is “The Big Five Rights, Health, Education, Social Participation and Employment” clearly highlights the aims and objectives our government, as well as the mandate of the Department of Women, Children and People with Disabilities. In October 2011, South Africa hosted the 8th Disabled People’s International in Durban, where delegates from countries around the world discussed the world agenda of people with disabilities as well as the needed interventions by governments.
Participants met to discuss and share information about critical issues affecting disabled people and their communities, made recommendations, and assessed models of empowerment and exchange ideas. Delegates also reflected on how the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities has been implemented and monitored in their respective countries.
The opportunity to host the DPI Assembly presented our country with an opportunity to play a leading role in promoting the human rights approach and the South African disability model which has been well received worldwide. Amongst the declarations that came out of the assembly were the commitment that governments will:
- Include and involve people with disabilities to actively participate and contribute in the strategies for implementation and monitoring of CRPD;
- Ensure that disability is an intrinsic part of the Millennium Development Goals and also of all development programmes post 2015;
- Emphasise on the need for disability inclusive development cooperation; and
- Reinforce that special attention needs to be given to women, children and youth with disabilities; intellectual and developmental disabilities; psychosocial disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
As a department, we also advocate the importance of recognising the urgent attention needed to prevent sexual abuse and violence against women and children with disabilities, and to also focus on the needs of people with disabilities in emergencies and situations of humanitarian risks.
In addition to these, we are also hard at work to ensure that all private companies and government departments reach the 2% target set for each employer to employ people with disabilities. We are putting advocacy and monitoring mechanisms in place to ensure that employers in both the private and public sector in South Africa heed this important call.
This 2% target for employment of people with disabilities comes from a realisation that there has been undue and unfair discrimination against people with disabilities when it comes to employment opportunities. Sadly, this happens even in circumstances where job seekers who have disabilities have the required qualifications and capacity to perform certain jobs. We have given employers until April next year to reach the 2% target.
This target for employment of people with disabilities is consistent with the last part of the Conference theme on employment, which highlights the promotion of the right to work, on an equal basis with others, including the rights to gain a living by work freely chosen or accepted.
Programme Director, we are using this Conference as a platform as an important platform of dialogue with the Down Syndrome sector and to commit our support as a department, to the ultimate objectives of the sector as a whole.
Our department was established to protect and promote the rights of people with disabilities, and as a result, part of our mandate is to promote, facilitate, coordinate and monitor the realisation of the rights of People with Disabilities. We do that by regular interactions with disability machineries that represent a variety of disability sectors. In these machinery meetings, we share idea with the sectors on various interventions and efforts that will help to advance their rights.
One thing we would like to announce and make clear is that for the department to work with you as a sector responsible for people with Down syndrome, as a department, we cannot claim to be an authority when it comes to knowledge about Down syndrome. Engage us as a department and talk to us so that we also have full understanding of the immensity of the work that still needs to be accomplished.
Your support as organisations working with this human condition is imperative in ensuring that the department knows and understands all issues and aspects relating to Down Syndrome. This knowledge and understanding will help us have a coordinated approach as far as legislations and other interventions are concerned.
Down syndrome is not a disease, but a condition classified under disability. It is therefore our interest as a department, to be concerned about the development stages of this condition. We need to pay particular attention to the social aspect as far as the rights of people with Down Syndrome are concerned. It must never happen in this country that people get isolated from social participation because of the nature of their disability or condition.
The Department of Women, Children and People with Disability will seek to ensure that people with Down Syndrome enjoy full human rights in an open society and have access to equal opportunities and protection by the state. We must fight all existing prejudices that make it impossible for people with Down syndrome to fully participate in our democratic society.
Access to education as well as state grants is also high on our list of our priorities. I have noted that one of the aims of this congress is for all participants to gain experience on the latest developments and to share latest knowledge and tools to improve the lives of people with Down syndrome. I have also been informed that Down Syndrome South Africa is planning a dynamic programme that will cater for all - parents and family members of people with Down syndrome, professionals in the fields of health, education, and research. This exciting programme will ensure that all who participate will benefit. We strongly encourage involvement and participation from people with Down syndrome.
Chairperson, I would like to take this opportunity to reassure all South Africans with Down syndrome that the government of South Africa cares about them and is committed to the promotion and protection of their rights in all aspects of their lives. We are aware that they are daily confronted with challenges relating to unemployment as well as access to education.
Our Deputy Minister has been on a road-show to all South African universities, to check and inspect their disability policies and friendliness of their premises towards the needs of people with disabilities. We are working towards an era where prospective students who want to access higher education, will not be turned down by universities because of their disability. We will start discussions with the Department of Health regarding the accessibility of public health facilities to people with disabilities, as well as empowering workers in the health sector to treat people with various types of disabilities.
Ladies and gentlemen, the challenges that we are facing is not only to promote the rights of people with disabilities, but also to educate the general society to understand that people with disabilities are normal people who happen to have a certain disability. Their disability does not lessen their humanity, but is a condition that anyone can have tomorrow.
We have a challenge of educating people that people with disabilities are not abnormal, but are fully normal human beings. Most members of our society are still failing to make this important distinction, and that is where a large part of our challenge lies.
We have people with disabilities, but our biggest problem is not them. Our biggest problem is people who don’t have disabilities. They continue to treat people with disabilities with prejudice and contempt, and in some communities even go as far as isolating people with disabilities from normal life.
In my interaction with various disability groups last year, I heard how in many communities, people with disabilities have no access to public transport because people who drive minibus taxis and buses simply do not have time to allow them to be assisted.
In fact, many public transport vehicles do not even have accommodation for wheelchair-bound people, for example. How do people live without access to public transport? How do people live without full social participation in their communities? These are the questions we need to pose to ourselves and bear in mind as we continue to work to improve the lives of people with disabilities.
In our efforts to do this work, we need to remember that families play an important role in bettering the lives of people with disabilities. We need to talk to parents in such a way that in the end, they will not associate having a disabled child with shame. We need to give them the right training and tools to enable them to give normal lives to their children.
As we are all aware, the responsibility of translating into reality the realisation of the rights of women, children and people with disabilities was placed firmly in this department, but in discharging our responsibility, we work with other government departments, provinces, municipalities, civil society and the private sector to ensure that mainstreaming actually happens.
This is where the role of the National Disability Machinery comes into place. The main objectives of the machinery is to facilitate the domestication of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Millennium Development Goals and the Africa Decade of Persons with Disabilities as well as to provide a platform for multi-stakeholder engagement across disciplines and sectors on the national disability agenda. The role of the National Disability Machinery in this regard cannot be over-emphasised.
In closing, I would like to emphasise that we need a strong civil society and government that can help to effectively drive the national disability agenda in our country. With all these systems in place and fully functioning, I am certain we will achieve our goals of improving the lives of people with disabilities.
Chairperson, I would like to take this opportunity to wish the congress successful discussions in different commissions over the next two days. The outcome of your deliberations is important and critical in shaping our intervention as government, and also in guiding us as we move forward.
I thank you all
