Inclusive and accessible parliaments for persons with disabilities in focus at OSCE/ODIHR event in Andorra
Practical measures that can facilitate the participation of persons with disabilities in parliaments and their access to other elected positions were discussed during an event co-organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) on 3 October 2017 on the margins of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly 2017 Autumn Meeting in Andorra.
The event, organized in co-operation with the delegations of Cyprus and Finland to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly, was attended by 29 representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly, including 17 women and 12 men. The participants highlighted some of the challenges that persons with disabilities face when running for elected office and performing their duties as parliamentarians.
“Parliaments and other democratic institutions are best placed to serve their communities when they represent society in all its diversity and are able to reflect the perspectives and needs of all community members in the policy and law-making processes,” said Tiina Kukkamaa-Bah, Chief of the ODIHR Democratic Governance and Gender Unit.
The need to make buildings, infrastructure and information more accessible, and to develop individual support mechanisms for persons with disabilities and better reach out to them, as well as the importance of improving public awareness about disability issues, were among the issues discussed.
“Full inclusion of persons with disabilities is the cornerstone of the international legal and policy framework in the area of human rights and disability,” said Alfredo Ferrante, Chairperson of the Council of Europe Ad Hoc Committee of Experts on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. “A fundamental issue is the effective participation of persons with disabilities along the whole political continuum. This includes being actively involved in accessible political campaigns, having equal opportunities to cast a vote without any restriction and to be elected in local, national and intergovernmental assemblies.”
Ljupka Mihajlovska, a Member of Serbia’s National Assembly, said: “Including persons with disabilities in political processes is the only way to give them a chance to effectively influence the adoption of laws that shape their lives and make them meaningful.”
The event was part of the ODIHR project “Our right to participate – Promoting the participation of persons with disabilities in political and public life.”