- Voter Education Plan targeting the Disabilities Community drafted.
- List of recommendations drafted for submission to the Guyana Elections Commission
The Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCPD) held a one-day conference to draft a voter education plan for the disability community, especially youth, and to draft a list of recommendations for submission to the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) on fulfilment of the voting rights for persons with disabilities.
The one-day National Disability Conference will be held on December 6, 2019 as part of other activities during a one-week period to note the observance of International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD). The twenty-four (24) member agencies of the GCPD, from Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 10, were represented at the Conference.
In Guyana, the March 2020 Elections will determine the future of Guyanese in a new oil economy and it is important to ensure maximum citizen participation in the electoral process, especially for marginalized groups. Recognizing this, the GPDC believes it is important to encourage maximum participation of the Disability Community in the electoral process through voter education which specifically responds to their needs.
The annual observance of IDPD was proclaimed in 1992, by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly Resolution 47/3. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in all spheres of both society and developmental programmes; giving a voice to the one billion PWDs living across the world. Over the years, PWDs have been marginalized and forced to live on the fringes of society with limited opportunities for living independent, productive lives.
Recognizing the circumstance of this marginalized population, the Government of Guyana signed and ratified the UNCRPD. The Guyana government also made one further step by initiating and implementing a legal framework for the protection and promotion of the rights of PWDs in Guyana by way of the Guyana PWD Act 2010. However, these legal instruments have not been very effective in mitigating the instances of both overt and covert discrimination and the accompanying impacts, which continue to plague the disability community. Within this context, it is important to continue creating opportunities for empowerment for PWDs in Guyana. Currently, most important among these opportunities is citizen participation in 2020 General and Regional Elections.
-END-
For further information please contact Mr Ganesh Singh at +592 652-8975.
