Social Platform Networking Visit to Cyprus
Social Platform Networking Visit to Cyprus
The priorities of the Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled (CCOD) for the Cyprus Presidency of the European Council of the European Union
Submitted by Christakis Nicolaides
President of the Confederation
Conference
“How the Cyprus EU Presidency will respond to the social consequences of the EU crisis - Cypriot Social Organizations CSOs priorities for the EU Presidency”
Venue: Semeli Hotel, Nicosia
Thursday 19 April, 2012
9:30 - 15:00
Dear fellow members of the organising committee,
Ladies and gentlemen,
First, please allow me tocordially welcome you all,as distinguished members of the Social Platform Network and representatives of European and Cyprus Civil Society Organizations, to this Conference.
We really wish to thank you very much indeed for both organizing and participating in this conference, which is being held to provide us with the opportunity to share and focus on our expectations and to discuss potential support for our efforts in prioritising crucial issues with regard to persons with disabilities in Cyprus to be tackled during the period of Cyprus’ presidency of the European Unionthis July.
Let me now focus on a few of the priorities for this European presidency.
One of the main priorities of the Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled is the correct, appropriate and prompt implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of persons with disabilities by Cyprus, thus meeting its obligation to respect the Convention’s provisions in all its policies, legislation and goals.
The establishment of a continuous,constructivedialogue with the state in order to assert the rights of persons with disabilities is perhaps the most important issue constantlyreferred to inthe provisions of the Convention.It cannot be overemphasized that persons with disabilities and their organizations must be included in the process of defining and implementing such social policies and programmes.
These should include not only consultation with persons with disabilities and their organizations, but also cover the costs related to their participation (such as the transcription and creation of documents, sign language interpretation, extra costs involved in providing personal assistance, the provision of accessibility to accommodation, etc.).
The implementation of measures targeting reasonable accommodation in all areas of education, vocational training, employment, leisure activity, sports and daily life activity,must be undertaken to determine the extent of required support for socioeconomic and cultural inclusion.
Various measures focusing on the improvement of access to workplaceenvironments and all governmental and semi governmental services such as educational, social and rehabilitation services, vocational training, employment (including job placement in the open labour market), constitute a fundamentalprerequisite for real social inclusion and must be well developed.
As our society becomes increasingly dependent on advanced technology an increasingnumber of challengesmayarise preventingthe full participation of persons with disabilities. If the issue ofaccessibility and design for all is not addressed from the outset, such barriers can only multiply in number. In order to eliminate these restrictions for persons with disabilities the concept of accessibility must be promoted from the very beginning to ensure access for persons with disabilities as this should be for any other citizens.
Finally, I should like to refer to the various parameters involved in the implementation of the disability/accessibility-related provisions of the Government’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive,which is a highly important issue for the visually and hearing impaired and for persons with other disabilities in Cyprus.
Takingthe above priorities into serious consideration especially duringCyprus’ presidency of the European Union,would contribute significantly to ensuring the quality of life of persons with disabilities.
I should like to close by thanking you all for giving me the opportunity to present the above priorities on behalf of the Cyprus Confederation of Organizations of the Disabled as well as for your kind attention. I wish you many a fruitful discussion and a most pleasant stay here in Cyprus.
Christakis Nicolaides
President of the Cyprus Confederation ofthe
Organizations of the Disabled
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