0 Disabled people push for more accommodating policies

Dozens of people with disabilities marked the international day for the disabled by rafting on Telaga Waja River in Karangasem on Sunday. Besides the fun activities, they also voiced their demands for better rights for those with physical and nonphysical disabilities. “We want to show that we are able to do things that other people think we cannot do,” said Sang Ayu Sujiati of Yakkum Bali, a foundation that advocates for disabled people. Previously, Yakkum and a number of other foundations participated in an underwater flag hoisting in Tulamben, Karangasem, on Indonesian Independence Day. 

Sang Ayu said that 80 participants and volunteers helped the disabled in their wheelchairs to negotiate the 150 steps heading to the river. “We help each other. The volunteers and stronger disabled help other disabled,” said the woman, who uses a crutch due to polio. She added that rafting helped the disabled to express their emotional burden as they could scream as loud as they could, while at the same time conquering their fears. In the rafting group, there were 11 children with prosthetic limbs. 

The rafting also marked the end of discussions over the last two weeks in which a number of foundations supporting disabled people and activists fighting for the rights of the disabled participated. They drafted an academic recommendation to help the provincial legislative council complete a bylaw that would accommodate the rights of the disabled. These foundations also established a focal point and solidarity forum. I Nengah Latra, director of Yakkum, said the workshop was aimed at raising understanding of the rights of disabled people in the context of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), or the Disability Convention, that had been ratified in law No. 19/2011. 

Bali has drafted a bylaw on disabled people but has yet to adopt the Disability Convention as its legal basis. Bylaws in Yogyakarta and Jakarta have adopted CRPD. The convention, which regulates the rights of disabled people, includes inclusion, dignity, freedom to choose, nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, affirmative action, appropriate accommodation, full participation, accessibility and respect for disabled children. Examples of the implementation of CRPD principles are special facilities for the disabled in public premises and on public transportation. 

The discussion concluded a number of actions that were considered discriminative, such as families that exiled the disabled and limited access to public places. Ida Bagus Pancima from the Bali Social Services Agency said the agency had prioritized housing renovation programs for poor people with disabilities, old people and poor children. The agency had also continuously distributed increasing amounts of aid for the disabled, including allocating social welfare insurance for 1,000 people with severe disabilities.

source : bali daily