"Seventeen years after the approval of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, there are still numerous obstacles to the exercise of fundamental rights in the social, political, labor and economic spheres. The superficiality with which expressions are used on 'social media' that offend the suffering of so many individuals and families who find themselves increasingly alone in having to fight the phenomenon of social exclusion is unacceptable”. These are the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in a message on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities celebrated yesterday. "In our country," he added, "families have always represented the main support for people with disabilities, engaged in exhausting struggles to try to make up for the welfare and social deficiencies to which their loved ones are exposed. We have a duty to recognize the enormous value of those who care for their loved ones, often finding themselves having to give up their jobs, their aspirations. It is necessary to change the perspective with which we look at disability, overcoming prejudices and stereotypes of which millions of people are still victims. These are people in whose potential we must invest because their abilities, resilience, creativity and willpower are a resource for all of us. People with disabilities demand to be able to live independently. To go to school, to work, to have fun. Simply to be able to live with dignity by exercising their rights. This is an issue for each of us, individually and as a community, to help build a more inclusive and accessible present for all," the Head of State concluded.
|