By : Dr. Roshneck Hameed Khan
Every year on 3rd of December, international day of persons with disabilities is celebrated in developed and developing countries. This day is mainly observed to highlight the issues of people with some kind of disability. It was first proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations and after that annually it is celebrated worldwide to promote and develop an understanding between the need of special and differently abled people, their rights and well-being. Differently abled individuals are those that does not have normal body functioning and they have difficulty in performing basic activities of daily living. Some people are born with congenital malformation (birth defect, anomaly) that can be inherited and some with acquired or environmental conditions i-e due to any disease or with aging that is mostly non-inherent. Disabilities cannot be same for every-one, mostly people suffer with different kind of issues that include vision impairment, hearing impairment, mobility impairment, and mental and cognitive impairment.
According to report around 650 million people suffer with some kind of disabilities whether they are children, in their adolescence or in adulthood age. In Pakistan 3.3 million to 27 million persons suffer with some kind of disability. Globally, 15 percent of the population is differently abled people.
If we talk about the history of (IDPD) then in 1976, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) proclaimed 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). On February 6, 1981, US President Ronal Reagan again did the same. Then the UNGA declared 1983-1992 as the decade of Disabled Persons. The adoption of December 3 as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities happened during the UNGA’s 37th plenary meeting. It has taken many years for our country to pass legislation to contend with some of the challenges faced by persons with disabilities. Gen Zia put in place the disabled persons (employment and rehabilitation) ordinance of 1981. This law was later amended in 2015. After that, in year 2020, a broader disabilities Rights Act was passed. Mainly the provinces have now also formulated their own laws for person with disabilities.
This year the theme of International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) is, ‘Transformative solutions for inclusive development: the role of innovation in fuelling an accessible and equitable world’. The 2022 celebration will focus on gaining skills and knowledge for innovative solution and have equality in practicing on workplace. Differently able people are dependent on their families or care-givers. So, they need encouragement to access education and participation in the socio-economic, community and cultural norms of life. We should also accept them as equal and not someone who need sympathy. PWDs do not want to be treated different, they just want to be treated like normal people. Equal opportunities must be given to them so they can do something good and meaningful for themselves.
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