An inclusive society, where all citizens are able to exercise their citizenship, is the major goal of the social policies of the Government of the Azores. This was the message conveyed by the Regional Secretary for Science, Technology and Infrastructures at the closing session of the Symposium on Cerebral Palsy, which took place on Monday night.

At the event, which was promoted by the Cerebral Palsy Association of S. Miguel and was financed in six thousand Euros by the Regional Secretariat for Science, Technology and Infrastructures (SRCTE), José Contente mentioned the digital inclusion programmes that the Azorean Government has made available to citizens with disabilities and to the respective associations.

“We participate in this process with an approach of digital inclusion, which should be integrated and universal, with a support programme that includes equipments and software for disabled people, in addition to other programmes that will now be implemented, with infrastructures that are associated to these specific problems and to which this association may apply for,” underlined the Secretary.

Concerning this area, the Regional Directorate for Science, Technology and Communications has been promoting the acquisition of software and equipments in the area of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for citizens with disabilities, as well as for the respective institutions. In addition, the Regional Directorate has developed training courses in the ICT area for citizens with disabilities, which were organised for the first time in 2009.

With regard to the social area, the same governmental department has increased, by more than 50 per cent, the support to these measures that aim the digital integration of all citizens with disabilities this year.

The improvement of accessibilities is another commitment of the SRCTE, thus providing a response to the mobility needs of these citizens.

According to the Regional Secretary, this is the only way in which we can achieve the equality of opportunities and the respective social inclusion. “We intend to achieve the equality of opportunities, to assure the accessibilities, to allow the access to an inclusive education and training and to an education for citizenship, not with a feeling of charity, but with a feeling of equality for all, as a social goal for the common good,” said José Contente.

At the closing session of the Symposium, the Secretary praised the Cerebral Palsy Association of S. Miguel, its president and all those who stand for the success of this project, the National Federation of Cerebral Palsy that attended the event, the families and all those who took part in this symposium. “The Government of the Azores is with you on this journey and is available to fulfil the ideal of a more just and inclusive society,” mentioned José Contente.