Laayoune: call to take disability into account in all public policies and programs
The participants of a seminar on the right to development and the rights of people with disabilities, in the Sothern Provinces of Morocco, called on the executive to take into account disability rights in all its policies and plans and in any development programs and projects. People with disabilities should participate and be represented in their drafting processes, they said.
This seminar was held on the 8th of March 2014 in Laayoune by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and its three regional commissions in the regions of Laayoune-Smara, Dakhla Aoussred, Guelmim-TanTan.
The participants stressed on several recommendations, mainly:
- Establishing, the sooner the better, a national mechanism to monitor the implementation of the International Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities, ratified by Morocco in 2009
- Adopting the human rights based approach when dealing with people with disabilities;
- Providing for accessibilities;
- Having people with disabilities represented in the regional structure and providing for a quota for them in the elected councils;
- Implementing existing laws in favour of people with disabilities (education, health, work, etc.);
- Strengthening partnership with and the role of civil society (networking, advocacy, capacity building, etc.);
- Taking into account the best interest of the victims of mines and their families in the economic and social development programs;
- supporting the families of people with disabilities;
- (...).
CNDH Chairman highlighted, in his closing statement that the Council and its regional commissions are always ready to work and collaborate with all stakeholders concerned to promote human rights, in general, and disability rights, in particular. A commission will be established to prioritize these recommendations and suggest an action plan for their implementation, he said.
This seminar discussed the conclusions of a survey commissioned by the CNDH on disability rights and the right to development in the Southern Provinces (Guelmim, Laayoune and Dakhla). The survey will be released soon.