By Alicia Chamely

THE Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association (TTBWA) is calling for the full implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) within the nation’s legislature.

In a release sent on Friday in commemoration of Helen Keller’s birthday, the TTBWA called for the government to take more concrete steps towards translating international obligations into enforceable protection and local legislation as laid out by the UNCRPD.

T&T ratified the UNCRPD 2015.

TTBWA Executive Officer Kenneth Suratt stated, “We urge the Government of Trinidad and Tobago to move with urgency toward enacting comprehensive disability legislation that enshrines accessibility, equality, and non-discrimination into law. Such legislation is crucial to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities, and to fulfil the commitments made under the UNCRPD.”

The TTBWA further appealed to all private and public stakeholders to ensure that laws, policies, procedures, services and products developed in T&T were done with the consideration of persons with disabilities.

 

TTBWA stated, “Accessibility and inclusion must be built into the design from the beginning—not added as an afterthought.”

The Association said they continued to work towards guaranteeing that every visually impaired, blind and deaf blind citizen of T&T had equal access to healthcare, education, employment and social inclusion.

On the occasion of Keller’s birthday, Suratt said, “Let us honour Helen Keller’s memory not just with words, but with meaningful action. Let us build a society where walking in the dark with a friend is just as empowering as walking in the light—and where no one, regardless of ability, is left out of the journey.”

According to Wikipedia, Keller Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and disability rights advocate who overcame deafness and blindness to become a world-renowned figure.