In an effort to counteract the stigma associated with disabled persons, a four-day workshop will be held here next week on the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

According to a press release from the Disabled People’s Organization, representatives of the body from Regions Two, Four, Six, Seven, Nine and Ten will meet from Monday to Thursday at the CIDA Conference Centre, on Main and New Market streets.

The workshop is a joint effort between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the National Commission on Disability (NCD), the Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities and the Guyana Community Based Rehabilitation Programme (CBR), the release said.  “The workshop takes the form of a ‘Train the trainers’ activity because participants are expected to teach members of their respective organizations how to explain the various articles contained in the UN Convention,” the release added.

“The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the response of the international community to the long history of discrimination, exclusion and dehumanization of persons with disabilities”, the statement said. According to the release, “the Convention covers many areas where persons with disabilities have been discriminated against including Access to justice; participation in political and public life, education, employment, freedom from torture, exploitation and violence, as well as freedom of movement.”