The fourteenth Paralympics Games open today, the pre-cursor of which dates back to the last time London hosted the Olympics. The brainchild of Dr. Ludwig Guttmann of Stoke Mandeville Hospital for disabled veterans of World War II, the event was staged to coincide with the 1948 London Olympics. It has grown dramatically since then. This year’s Games, the biggest yet, will see 4,200 athletes, from 160 countries, compete in 20 different sports medal events.
London 2012 saw the first ever double amputee compete in the Olympic Games. South African, Oscar Pistorius competed in the men’s 400 metre race and was a member of the 4 × 400 metre relay team. This and the amazing achievements we will be seeing during the Paralympics over the next twelve days should be enjoyed and celebrated. However, I am determined we also use London’s summer festival of sport to highlight the need for further progress protecting the human rights of those with disabilities worldwide. As a Liberal Democrat, I believe that the legacy of this Paralympics should not only be to ‘inspire a generation’ but to promote the equal rights and freedoms of people with disabilities and to foster their inclusion in all aspects of society here and around the world.
In many countries people with physical and mental disabilities still face discrimination and barriers in many parts of their lives. For example, the International Disability Rights Monitor report on Asia describes the lack of education opportunities and support for disabled people in the region despite those countries guaranteeing universal access to education. The lack of sufficient education is reflected in the educational outcomes for people with disabilities. In Vietnam, only 34 percent of people with disabilities are literate, as compared to over 90 percent of the general population, and in the Philippines less than one-third of people with disabilities ever advance beyond elementary schooling. Another example is highlighted by the campaign group, Disability Rights International, who are working for the end of institutionalisation of children with mental disabilities. They have found instances where children are locked in cages, trafficked into forced labour and intentionally starved.
As the Foreign Office Minister for Human Rights, I have encouraged and overseen programmes aimed at raising awareness of disability rights globally, working with international partners and institutions to improve standards for those who are disabled around the world. The Coalition Government is committed to equality for disabled people here at home and abroad. We are working hard to promote and to shape the legacy of the Paralympics on the global stage. This afternoon, I hosted the future Olympic and Paralympic host nations, South Korea, Russia and Brazil, in the launch of a communiqué pledging to harness the potential of their Games to promote human rights. The Communiqué links the Olympic principles of equality and non-discrimination to the values underpinning the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted in 1948, the year of the last London Olympics. The UN Convention, now ratified by 109 countries, not only creates legal obligations for states parties, but also provides a basis on which to promote equality for disabled people in the UK and all over the world. The communiqué underlines the importance of fostering the inclusion of the disabled in society, particularly in sports. By working with the future host nations, we hope to help realise the potential of future Games to promote human rights.
What needs to happen is for attitudes to change, for the disabled to be accepted as equal and important members of their communities. In some countries, this will take a wholesale change of belief and culture. What we can do and what the Coalition is doing, is to support projects and organisations which campaign for positive change globally. ‘Time to Change’ is a great example of the Government and the charitable sector working together. The programme is aimed at ending the stigma and discrimination faced by people with mental health issues. The project is funded by the Department of Health and Comic Relief, but is run by charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness.
While the Paralympics shows the amazing spirit, resolve and achievement of the Paralympians, there is still a long road ahead for the advancement of the civil and human rights of people with disabilities.
* Jeremy Browne is the MP for Taunton Deane, and was previously a minister in both the Home and Foreign offices.
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7 Comments
Could start by restoring their benefits
Good to see the government has a joined up approach to disability keeping ATOS as sponsors after they have done sooooo much to help improve the lot of disabled people…….
http://www.london2012.com/about-us/the-people-delivering-the-games/olympic-partners/
We used to have a proud record on disabilities, now we remove benefits from ex service amputees. The same group who inspired the first Paralympics…
I applaud you aims, but until you speak up about the real issues facing those with disabilities in this country you will be seen as a hypocrite.
I applaud the Para Olympians some of whom have over come some huge obstacles to be able to compete at this level in sport.
But on a negative note, I think it is a disgrace that ATOS are one of the sponsors, especially since they are the cause of so much stress and incompetence on assessing peoples claims for benefit.
I am already sick of hearing Cameron using the para Olympics as a platform to justify his welfare cuts by trotting out the same lines he has been using since entering government, by saying this is an example of what people can do, rather than can’t do.
I think if he uses it as a platform to reach out to the electorate and cause more animosity towards those in receipt of disability benefits then that would be an outrage.
We should be celebrating, admiration tor the Para-Olympians for over coming massive obstacles and achieving success,
I’m inclined to agree in general terms with Steve Way.
Your government is giving an impression that 88% of sick and disabled people have been cheating on their benefits, as a result of which hate crime appears to have increased across the countries of the UK.
Your government wants to put on a grand show for the world to show them what a positive image disabled people have in the UK, while overseeing, in practice, a process of stripping these people of support., Additionally, by doing nothing to dispel the automatic and logical assumptions that if they are well enough to work, it follows that they have been claiming benefits necessarily, some for many years, you do nothing to dispel a general feeling of mistrust and dislike of anyone on benefits.
The truth is, of course, that most of the people whom your government, through the good offices of ATOS, has taken off incapacity type benefits, will never get work, but at least they will be cheaper to maintain.
It is hard enough living on long-term enhanced benefits without being reduced to the niggardly level of unemployment benefit, with the attendant drop in help with rent and council tax that that brings.
The government’s hypocrisy in these matters is quite startling.
Matt. It seems that, like Mrs Thatcher before him, Mr Cameron seems to feel that anyone can reach the top of the pile if they just try hard enough.
Mr Cameron, of course has never really had to try that hard. His father’s money guaranteed him a place at Eton and Oxford, a fabulous start by anyone’s standards, but additionally, in his case, his mother’s relationship to royalty ensured his further safe passage in Westminster.
In the real world, not every able bodied person can be a Murray or a Bolt; why would every disabled person be capable of being a medal winning athlete.
If, indeed, we could all reach the top, who would empty bins, or drive limousines, wait on table, clean the polo pool, or indeed be an MP?
If success is as easy as he appears to think, why is Mr Cameron, for all his advantages, such a poor prime minister?
I agree with you totally about admiring paralympians for their drive and their undoubted achievement. They must be extraordinary people. It is a pity, though, that Cameron has managed to politicise this, just as he did with the Olympics.
Shocking hypocrisy here in this article from out-of-touch Jeremy Browne.
It’s your government Jeremy – the Lib Dems – who are handing over contracts to ATOS .
It’s your government Jeremy – the Lib Dems – who are removing benefits from people who are too disabled and sick to work – 32 of them die a week of their illnesses/disabilities having been found “fit for work” by ATOS.
It’s your government Jeremy – the Lib Dems – that passed the Welfare Reform Bill that put all of theses heinous cuts to support for disabled people into action.
Take some responsibility for the detrimental effects your government is having on the lives of people with disabilities.
It seems to me just from looking for an answer to weather people with Mental Illness can compete in the Paralympics … Well from what the rules I’m read have to say… No they can’t and that’s pretty bloody bad. That is people suffering from major depression or Bipolar etc. Certainly they have a place all sorted out for certain types of brain injury and people born with or acquired intellectual impairment… but what about the other people? What if you suffer from Depression or Schizophrenia and you want to compete? It looks to me like people with Mental Illness once again are just getting pushed aside. That’s not good enough… Change it no matter how hard it is change it now!