Objectives:
- Promote awareness about disabled persons in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis
- To change the mind-set of the people in Relationship to people with disabilities.
For persons with disabilities in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis the approval of a project entitled “The Human Rights Sensitization Project” is an opportunity to be a part of transforming society’s views about persons who experience functioning with disabilities as part of their daily existence. For them it is also a way of charting the future for young persons with disabilities in the Federation and generations to come.
There are approximately three hundred people living with disabilities, eighty-seven are children, and two hundred and three are adults. There are others who do not wish to participate because of fear of discrimination so there is the need to have a country survey to determine the outstanding figure.
The Human Rights Sensitization Program for Persons Living with Disabilities in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is vital as it will speak to the rights of persons living with disabilities for the rest of their lives.
Certainly this change in mindset s necessary to bring about change will require the will of all sectors of society and definitely fundamental changes in legislation, policies and programmes. Human rights cannot be effective without inclusive development and development could not be achieved without the full respect of human rights for persons with disabilities.
The St. Kitts/Nevis Association of Persons with Disabilities was founded in 1982 by Victor Daley and others in response to the sigma and isolation that was felt by persons with disabilities in the Federation. Unfortunately, the improvement is minimal and a small percentage is visible because they are not included in decision making at the national level. This should not be so as they too have the fundamental rights to be included and benefited from all the development that is taking place within the country.
The Human Rights Sensitization and Policy Project is being carried out by the Department of Community and Social Development and the National Commission for UNESCO.
