St.George’s, Tuesday, December 1, 2009 – Grenada will join other countries around the world on December 3 in marking the annual observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
The day is used each year as an occasion to promote broad public understanding of disability issues, the rights of persons with disabilities and the benefits to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of the social, political, cultural and economic life of their communities.
The theme of this year’s observance is, “Making the Millennium Development Goals Inclusive: Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and their Communities Around the World.’’ It will be commemorated with a special event at the United Nations.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will officially open the event that will include by a panel discussion on the topic, “How the Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and their Communities Contribute to the Development of the International Development Agenda”.
One issue to be discussed by the panel is community-based rehabilitation (CBR), an initiative intended to integrate persons with disabilities in development, as part of a general community development strategy. Among CBR’s goals are to reduce poverty and equalize opportunities in society.
There will also be a review of other community-based measures such as the Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
The MDG, specifically designed to address the needs of the world’s poorest and most marginalized populations, aims to address key developmental issues such as poverty, health and education.