Speaking in the Chamber, North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has highlighted the objectives of the twenty-fifth United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3rd.
The theme this year was ‘Achieving 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the Future that We Want’.
Speaking in this week’s Business Statement, Mr Isherwood said:
“In this context, could I call for, ideally, a Debate, or at least a Statement, on this year’s objectives under the International Day, which include assessing the current status of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and laying the foundation for a future of greater inclusion for disabled persons in Wales?
“I know the Welsh Government didn’t include the Convention on the face of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, but it did include it in the Part 2 Code of Practice. Despite that, there’s clearly an understanding gap, where one local authority, for example, told me that they didn’t believe this applied to the tender process, another said it didn’t apply to employment and another said it didn’t apply to the redesign of services for people with hearing loss and deaf people, despite them saying that their independence was being taken from them. In this context, on this timely twenty-fifth anniversary, I hope you will concur that a Debate or at least a Statement would be merited.”
Leader of the House, Jane Hutt AM, said: “I thank Mark Isherwood for that question, because it does provide us with an opportunity to remember and reflect on the fact that 3 December was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. And, of course, this is where, in fact, in responding to the previous question, there is an opportunity in Wales, I believe, in developing our code of practice, for example, for ethical procurement, where we can look particularly at these needs and issues.”
Mr Isherwood added: “The Act’s Code of Practice defines the approach to promoting people’s well-being as one which identifies the personal outcomes they wish to achieve in all aspects of their everyday lives and the barriers they face in achieving these.”