Candidates urged to commit to disability issues

JAKARTA. Activists from several disabled organizations in Yogyakarta have called on the presidential and vice presidential candidates to pay closer attention to people with disabilities, especially through robust support for disabled-friendly laws.

They conveyed their hopes in a meeting of nationwide disabled organizations at the Gabusan Art Market in Bantul regency, Yogyakarta, on Sunday.

“This meeting will discuss the interests of the disabled communities that the presidential and vice presidential candidates should be fighting for,” Rohmanu, of the organizing committee, said as quoted by Antara news agency.

He said the candidates’ visions were not “disabled-friendly” and the term was a “meaningless” phrase attached to their campaign slogans.

“Their mission and visions do not include any clear commitment on how to create justice for the disabled,” said Rohmanu.

He said recommendations had been forwarded to both presidential candidates.

Among the recommendations were disabled-friendly policies, promoting inclusiveness and mainstreaming disability in the National Mid Term Development Plan (RPJMN) for 2014-2019.

“The next president should also have a special program to monitor processes to recover the rights of disabled communities, to prioritize disabled persons in developments and overall, to create a country with great access for disabled persons,” said Rohmanu.

Institute for Inclusion and Advocacy of the Disabled (SIGAB) director Joni Yulianto said the organizations would discuss the recommendations with the presidential candidates’ campaign teams.

“The recommendations are based on three basic aspects —constitutional, political truth and the disabled as an asset of development,” he said. (fss/ebf)