The Regional Director for Solidarity and Social Security launched today an appeal to raise the society’s awareness to fight against prejudices and obstacles that that prevent disabled people from exercising their rights and participating in the political, social, economic, cultural and artistic life.
Isabel Berbereia spoke during the opening session of the seminar on “Nothing about Us without Us” (Nada Sobre Nós Sem Nós) held at the auditorium of the Regional Laboratory of Civil Engineering in Ponta Delgada on São Miguel Island. This event was organised under the celebrations of the International Day of People with Disabilities, which is celebrated today.
For the Regional Director, “a society that supports the inclusion and respect for human rights is the one that takes into account the needs of all people equally, expressing the fundamental bases on which it is founded through the respect for human diversity.”
According to Isabel Berbereia, there are 24 Private Social Solidarity Institutions in the Azores with intervention in the area of disability and rehabilitation which provide 33 support services, corresponding to a total of 943 people. In addition, there are also sixteen Occupational Activity Centres in the Azores which support a total of 419 people, nine Assistance and Monitoring Centres addressed at people with disabilities and eight residences for social reinsertion, supported and protected life.
According to the Regional Director, the creation of quality support structures addressed at people with disabilities, chronic and mental illnesses is one of the governmental priorities under the social policies.
In 1998 an average of 900 thousand Euros was spent in the area of special needs while nowadays seven million Euros are invested in this area. In addition, an amount of four million Euros is allocated per year through cooperation and operation agreements.
For Isabel Berbereia, the entry in force of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in May 2008 was an important legal tool that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas, such as employment, education, services health, transports and the access to justice.
According to the Regional Director, the recognition and protection of the rights of people with disabilities, with special emphasis the right to dignity, equal treatment, independent life and participation in society, is also a major goal of the initiatives of the European Union. The fact that the disabled person “is a fully human subject with inherent and inviolable rights” is a fundamental principle. This assertion is supported based on the recognition that all human beings, from conception and through all stages of development, have their own unique dignity, regardless of their physical or mental conditions. This principle emerges from the universal awareness that should be embodied not only in the legislation, but also in social life.”
Isabel Berbereia also considered that as disabled people are subjects with all their inherent rights, they should have favourable condition so that they may be able to participate in society in every dimension and at all levels.
“The recognition of these rights and the duty of human solidarity is necessary in the creation of favourable access conditions to the structures of society, for the integration and full development of people with disabilities,” stressed the Regional Director.
In this context, the Regional Director for Solidarity and Social Security said the first article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that “all human beings are free and equal in dignity and rights,” therefore considering that the integration of all citizens is the responsibility of everyone. 
On the International Day of People with Disabilities, Isabel Berbereia reiterated the Government’s commitment “to do everything within its reach to build a world where all citizens may have a full and active participation in order to ensure the equality of opportunities, the active inclusion people with disabilities and the fulfilment of the equality of rights through the promotion of the principles of non-discrimination and integration of people with disabilities.”