About disability and “reasonable accommodation”

Let us not delude ourselves that we are fighting for civil rights
if we don’t fight for the social ones

In these hours, in every part of the world, one person in six is engaged, in view of December 3, in organizing meetings to celebrate the World Day of Persons with Disabilities to draw public attention to social inclusion and the breaking down of all barriers.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted in 2006 and signed and ratified by our Parliament in 2009 with Law no. 18, is the point of reference for those who support initiatives aimed at promoting the human rights of people with disabilities so that everyone has the same opportunities to participate in social, cultural and economic life, without any distinction.

(CDPR, Art. 5 Paragraph 3: In order to promote equality and eliminate discrimination, States Parties shall take all appropriate steps to ensure that reasonable accommodations are provided).

Working for people with disabilities means promoting the rights of those who are most vulnerable with the belief that no one – not even one – should be left behind.

Today disabilities are no longer a limit thanks to the great achievements of rehabilitation bioengineering as well as the great surprising results that scientists continue to obtain all over the world: children and adults given up as missing from the school system or incapacitated by rare diseases manage to play an active role in society and to establish stable and satisfying relationships.

There are still many children and adults who cannot benefit from this enormous technological and scientific heritage because it is badly distributed, generating strong social inequality. It is unacceptable that so many children and adults are still affected by marginalization, a silent but preventable killer, which draws even more strength precisely through the vicious circle of social exclusion.

Salvatore Cimmino