Belize Takes Historic Step with Disability Commission Launch

The push for a more inclusive Belize now has a new driving force. On Thursday, the government officially launched the National Commission for Persons with Disabilities, giving it responsibility for transforming the promises of the Disabilities Act, 2024 into meaningful change. The commission brings together representatives from government, civil society, labor and the private sector to strengthen legal protections, improve accessibility and influence national policy. Its members received their Instruments of Appointment during the launch and have already begun setting priorities for the work ahead.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Thousands of Belizeans with disabilities still face barriers to education, jobs, healthcare and public services. The new National Commission for Persons with Disabilities aims to change that by turning the Disabilities Act, 2024 into meaningful action. Human Development Minister Thea Garcia Ramirez chairs the commission.

 

Thea Garcia Ramirez, Minister of Human Development

“ For too long, persons with disabilities have encountered barriers that many of us simply do not see, we do not feel because that staircase can be effectively a wall. A document that cannot be read or heard can mean exclusion from work, from school, or even healthcare. A discriminatory attitude can be as disabling as any physical barrier. And when a person is denied an opportunity because of a disability, it is not only that individual that loses.”

 

The Disabilities Act guarantees every Belizean full participation in society, but without proper implementation, persons with disabilities will remain at a disadvantage. Marshall Nunez, Disability Desk Coordinator, says the newly launched National Commission for Persons with Disabilities will oversee the law’s implementation, advise government, coordinate national disability policies, and ensure Belize meets its commitments to protecting and advancing the rights of persons with disabilities.

 

Marshall Nunez, Disability Desk Coordinator, Ministry of Human Development

“The most important thing for this new commission is to develop the strategy, create national strategic direction for people with disabilities. The implementation of the law is mandated now by the law. But where we’ll go as a country, the strategy and policies that will be developed out of it. The, the disability legislation, it’s a very proactive legislation, you know. So there will be regulations and amendment to other type of legislation to be in compliance with what this legislation requires.”

 

The commission unites eleven members from government and civil society to protect disability rights across Belize. Delvitt Samuels helped draft the law and guide its implementation.

 

Delvitt Samuels, Legal Drafter

“A disabled person specifically who is aggrieved can actually come to the commission or approach the commission, lodge his grievance her grievance and have it properly ventilated without view towards getting a remedy just like any of us would at the court and they will be provided with assistance, requisite assistance where necessary for them to interface or interact with the process meaningfully and I think that’s the appropriate word The, they interact meaningful as a matter of substance as opposed to having a rubber stamp type system or a system that pushes them through just because.”

 

Beyond accessibility and education, the commission is advocating for greater disability representation in politics and public leadership. Britney Gordon for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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