December 3rd, International Day of Persons with Disabilities

International Day of People with Disability

On December 3rd we celebrate the International Day of of Persons with Disabilities. This year’s theme as chosen by the UN is “To remove barriers to create a society that is inclusive and accessible to all”.

It’s a call for all countries, without exception, to provide all persons with the equal access they deserve and need, to make every effort to reach the goals of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, to eliminate discrimination and exclusion and to create societies that value diversity and inclusion.

By achieving these objectives we could bridge the gap between good intentions and actions that are long overdue: access to accomodation, access to employment, access to education, access to the technology that would allow all this!

The ultimate goal would be to isolate the problems and collect the contributions of people with disabilities so that they can be taken into account in the drafting of a new development agenda.

Overcoming the architectural barriers first, and then the cultural ones, is the duty of every country that wants to be defined as democratic and civilized.

Sometimes everything seems so difficult and sad, but you just have to raise your head and look inside yourself and the forces are already there, the energy explodes and the desire to take part hooks you up. Then the world can really become more beautiful.

With affection
Salvatore Cimmino