As prepared for delivery...

Disability and Advocacy BiCommunal Conference

“Planting Seeds for the Future”

September 12, 2003

I am pleased to be with you today for this important conference on Disability Advocacy.   As advocates, educators, and service providers for persons with disabilities from all over Cyprus, you are vital to building the future of Cyprus. 

The right and dignity of people with disabilities must be promoted and protected everywhere.  To do this, we must strive to identify the varied and distinct needs of the disabled.  We must then determine how to promote respect for their dignity, improve standards of care and find answers to questions such as accessibility for the physically disabled. 

Defining a disability is not always easy.  From Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) to rheumatoid arthritis to blindness, many persons with different disabilities need a voice to speak for them.  Many of you have worked very hard in this field.  You have taken full advantage of the chance to share your expertise with Greek and Turkish Cypriots working on this project, along with the Americans from the University of Minnesota.  Better than anyone, you know how tough the challenge is you face.

I commend your work on this two-year project.  Many of you serve as important voices advocating on behalf of the disabled and training society to look on people with disabilities as more like us than different.  Still, physical barriers and unenlightened attitudes lead to discrimination and social exclusion. 

The United States has confronted this issue and we have made progress over the years in securing equal rights for people with disabilities.  Our Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 could serve as a model for similar legislation throughout the world.  In the international arena, U.S. embassies in countries across the world as well as at the United Nations promote respect for the rights of the disabled as part of respect for the rights of all. 

As you all are no doubt aware, the United States is also working actively to promote a comprehensive settlement on the island based on the Annan Plan.  We believe a solution before May 2004 is feasible and the reasons for pursuing it are compelling.

Our effort takes many forms.  For example, for many years we have considered it a priority to create opportunities for Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots to meet one another, to get to know each other after decades of separation, and to work in parallel or together in common professional fields.  We have provided substantial support for bicommunal programs across many fields, including this two-year project in the broad field of disabilities, encompassing as it does the education, social services, health, and mental health sectors.  The April relaxation in restrictions on travel across the buffer zone has created more opportunities for such interaction. Crossings by over a million people so far with no serious ethnic-based incidents underscore the reservoir of goodwill between people across this island that provides a solid foundation for settlement.  

I would note that even with a comprehensive solution, programs like today’s that bring people together will be invaluable.  Under the Annan Plan, responsibility for education, social services, health and mental health will rest with authorities in the Greek Cypriot Constituent State and Turkish Cypriot Constituent State.  At the same time, under the new constitution, if it were to be adopted in referenda on both sides, the constituent states would be encouraged to coordinate and harmonize policy and legislation in these areas.

Many of you here today have had the opportunity to participate in segments of our two-year project, culminating this conference.   Whether it was at an on-island focus group discussion during the needs assessment stage of this project, or at one of the training programs in the U.S., you have shared a variety of experiences.  From vocational education and job placement methods to understanding the growth of service provisions in the States, you have expanded your capacity to reach hundreds of disabled individuals through your exposure to U.S. developments in addressing these varied needs.

We hope that these experiences have broadened your own knowledge and made you a better advocate. We also hope that you will take the initiative to share your new skills and ideas with your fellow professionals.   Knowledge shared multiplies its impact.  You who are here today can help bring new ideas and new methods to the disability field across the island.  We hope your collaboration and hard work continue into the future. 

Before I close there are a few people I would like to recognize and thank for their commitment to this entire project.  I know that you all join me in thanking the team from the University of Minnesota and the main coordinator, Dr. Mary Hayden.  Dr. Hayden, we thank you for your commitment to this project and all that you have brought to the professionals here.  Your efforts have met the goals of the Bicommunal Support Program in raising the level of training to service providers for disabled persons here in Cyprus.  We know that your collaboration with the Cypriots will not end here. 

Thanks also to the presenters who came this week to share their expertise in advocacy in the U.S. system with the Cypriots.  Thank you to the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot professionals who have assisted Dr. Hayden’s team in assessing the current situation in Cyprus and developing training programs to directly benefit your community. 

I hope that the lessons you shared will inspire everyone to continue to strive for a world in which, whenever possible, the disabled are “enabled” – enabled not only to reach their full potential, but also to become their own advocates for their rights, and for respect, dignity and the fulfillment of their highest aspirations.  A Cyprus in which everyone – disabled or not, rich and poor, Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot alike – can be assured of that dignity is a noble calling for us all.

Thank you