By Leon Walcott
During the last ten years several events occurred that positively changed the landscape for persons living with disabilities in Guyana. The country became a signatory to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2007 and ratified the Convention in 2013. In 2010 the Persons With Disabilities Act was assented to by the National Assembly. Earlier, in 2008, the Guyana Council of Organizations for Persons with Disabilities was established under the Chairmanship of Leon Walcott. Walcott had said then that the focus of the new body was ”to advocate for the fulfillment of the rights of Persons With Disabilities (PWD) through advocacy, awareness raising, education, and skills training. Our ultimate objective is to assist persons living with disabilities in Guyana to move from a state of self-pity to one of self-respect.” He explained too that establishing the organization was part of a strategy implemented by the Voluntary Services Overseas (VSO) and the National Commission on Disability (NCD) to lay the foundation for improving the quality of life for individuals living with disabilities.
Persons with disabilities still endure many social disadvantages, including labelling, exclusion and rejection. They are more likely to be poor and undereducated and to have fewer opportunities than other members of the population.
This has resulted in a great increase in the workload of the GCOPD which has a membership of
