Parliamentary News Release

057/2003

Monday 29 September 2003

PRESIDING OFFICER LAUNCHES DISABILITY WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

“A matter of Human Rights,” says Reid

Presiding Officer George Reid today urged MSPs and staff to take part in training courses arranged in Parliament as part of Disability Awareness Week.

Mr Reid said: “Accessibility is one of our fundamental principles but we should not forget what underpins that, essentially that disability is a matter of human rights. I want the Scottish Parliament to be fully open and welcoming to the 12 per cent of our population who have a disability.

“Our disabled community have been fully engaged in the design of our new Holyrood campus right from the start. Once we move there, we shall be one of the most accessible and participative parliaments in the world.

“But barriers to participation are not just physical. Often they are about attitudes – about seeing the disabled person as a medical ‘problem’. This leads to stereotyping and exclusion.

“MSPs and staff can do much to break these barriers. They should engage in eye contact with a person in a wheelchair, not talk down to them. They should know how to guide a blind person through doors and down stairs. They should understand how to have a conversation with someone with learning difficulties. If they are in doubt they should just ask. These are not issues of etiquette; they are issues of respect and equality.”

Mr Reid stated that disability is essentially a human rights issue: “We should always remember Article I of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights — ‘All human beings are born equal in rights and dignity.’”

The Scottish Parliament has organised its own Disability Awareness Week to raise awareness of disability access issues. Events this week will include:

• A series of workshops over three days for MSPs and parliamentary staff, examining how the Disability Discrimination Act impacts upon their work and legal responsibilities. The workshops will also look at language issues and how these can affect communication with disabled people when using parliamentary services.
• The screening of “Yes My Brain Works – Does Yours?”, a film by Karen Sutherland and the Edinburgh Youth Social Inclusion Partnership will be shown on TV screens throughout the Parliament. Karen’s film looks at wheelchair users’ access to public transport in Edinburgh. She draws on her own experience of having to take at least two taxis a day to school.
• A new system will be set up to ensure that the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body is doing all that it can to follow best practice as the employer of Parliament’s staff.
• The Parliament will also be launching a sign language video which will provide information in British Sign Language about the different ways in which members of the public can get involved in the work of the Scottish Parliament.

Background Notes

George Reid has edited the World Disability Report for international disability and UN organisations, has worked as a consultant for the World Blind Union, and has helped establish prosthesis centres for landmine victims in nine countries. Currently, he is patron of the Scottish Disability Equality Forum.

The year 2003 is European Year for Disabled People (EYDP).

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