The International Day of Persons with Disabilities, observed tomorrow, is less about celebration and more about demanding urgent, tangible and long overdue action and accountability from the authorities.
Child-disability activist Datuk Dr Amar Singh HSS said there are still many key essentials that the community, their care partners and civil society want from the government and society.
These actions and changes, he said, fall under the principle of moving from tokenistic gestures (a charity model) to the full realisation of rights (a rights-based model), in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which Malaysia ratified in 2010.
Dr Amar, who is also a consultant paediatrician, said the basic essentials hoped for include legal reform and enforcement, inclusive education and desegregation, employment and economic empowerment, and accessibility – physical, digital and transport.
“We need to amend Article 8(2) of the Federal Constitution to explicitly include ‘disability’, thereby providing legal protection for persons with disabilities (PwDs) against discrimination,” said Dr Amar.
“We need to urgently amend and pass the Persons with Disabilities Act 2008 with full alignment to the CRPD. This must include strong, enforceable penalty clauses against individuals, businesses and government bodies that violate the rights of PwDs.”
He said the government must also sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the CRPD, which would allow individuals to submit complaints of human rights violations directly to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, holding the government internationally accountable.
Dr Amar said the current trend of funding and building more segregated (special-needs-only) or integrated education facilities, as seen in recent budgets, must stop.
“We must move to true inclusion in mainstream settings, in line with the CRPD. We need to mandate and fund comprehensive training for all teachers (not just special education teachers) in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), curriculum modification and individualised support.”
These changes, he said, will benefit all children, not just those who are disabled.
He said recruitment, training, placement and support systems in the public and private sectors must be revamped to ensure PwDs are not discriminated against in hiring or promotion.
“More than three decades of failure by the government to achieve a tiny one per cent PwD employment quota in the public sector must end.”
“We need to invest significantly in disability-inclusive training and build sustainable employment support programmes to support the inclusion and retention of PwDs in both public and private sector jobs.”
He added that current job coach training programmes require a serious revamp to make them functional.
On accessibility, Dr Amar said access for PwDs to all buildings and transport facilities must be legally mandated.
“All structural obstacles in the built environment that restrict mobility and access must be systematically removed. All new buildings must be accessible by design and not as an afterthought.”
He said disabled-friendly restrooms were also critical, and these improvements will benefit all of society, especially the elderly.
“It is critical that the government advocate for and drive this instead of relying solely on PwDs and civil society.”
He added it was embarrassing that no single government website is fully accessible to PwDs or meets Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.1).
“It is critical that all government websites, apps and services are built using Universal Design principles and meet international WCAG standards to prevent digital and information exclusion.”
He also urged the government to stop treating disability as a welfare or charity issue and start treating it as a human rights, legislative and enforcement priority.
“All MPs should advocate alongside PwDs in their constituencies and ensure these basic needs and rights are championed and realised in parliament.”
“With at least 40 per cent of the population being PwDs or their care partners, and with an ageing society, it is time for the government to work concertedly to meet the basic needs of PwDs, and not as an afterthought,” he added.
