VIEW issue 4 2012:VIEW issue 4 2012 29/04/2012 16:54 Page 16


VIEW, Issue four, 2012


Website: viewdigital.org


‘Far too many blind people are living lives full of quiet desperation’


paigner believes. Harry Reid is Campaigns Manager with the


A


re people with disabilities in Northern Ireland today being treated like black people in Louisiana, USA, prior to civil rights? That is what one veteran cam-


Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB) here. He said that many people with disabilities were living lives of “quite desperation” and that if any other section of the population was being treated in the same way there would be “uproar”. As the Northern Ireland Executive embarked on a consultation on its draft disability strategy – welcomed by groups including Disability Action – Harry has launched a new network of active cam- paigners among RNIB volunteers. In the plush setting of Belfast’s Merchant Hotel,


the would-be campaigners considered what skills they would need to lobby the Assembly politi- cians – who have signed up to promoting social inclusion and report back to the United Nations on legislative progress on improving life for peo- ple with disabilities. Harry said that the top three campaign de- mands among RNIB members were an education


By Una Murphy


system to enable blind and partially sighted peo- ple to achieve their potential, access to digital technology and employment. “This is a group of people of which three-quar- ters will be unemployed during their lives – if that was happening any other group of people there would be uproar.” he said. “Blind and partially sighted people are being


treated like black people in Louisiana in the 1920s.” “Many live lives of quiet desperation.” he said. “Their self-belief is often robbed from them.” Harry urged the campaigners at RNIB to


“dream big” and quoted Bob Marley to them: “No-one but yourself can free your mind.” Women and black people had taken their


rights, they were not given their rights, he said. “What we are talking about on one level is jus- tice.” Meanwhile, Monica Wilson, Chief Executive of Disability Action welcomed the Executive’s draft strategy for disabled people – which aims to remove the barriers to employment, education, transport, housing, access to information, and life-


Page 16


Hard-hitting: RNIB campaigns manager Harry Reid Image: Kevin Cooper, Photoline


long learning – but criticised the length of time being taken by the Executive. "The UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled


People clearly sets out what government must do to deliver the rights of people with disabilities and this strategy is an important step in realising the rights of disabled people here. “However, it is the implementation of the strat-


egy through the subsequent action plan that will really demonstrate how this government will de- liver rights for disabled people in Northern Ire- land."


until August 15 and all relevant documents are available on the OFMDFM website. Pre-register for consultation events by contact- ing the Poverty, Social Inclusion, Disability Branch on 028 9052 3423 or 028 9052 319, by email to disability.info@ofmdfmni.gov.uk, or text phone on 028 9052 2526 and let officials know of any requirements such as sign language interpreter, al- ternative format requirements or other provi- sions you require.


Comments can be sent to: disability.info@ofmdfmni.gov.uk


The consultation on the draft strategy runs


SUPPORTINGOUR MEMBERS 


DEFENDINGJOBS ANDSERVICES 


TOJOINUNISONTEL.08453550845 ORJOINONLINE


https://join.unison.org.uk/joinus.php; 


Community & Voluntary Branch


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20