The Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association (TTBWA) is calling on Government to ensure that all its response plans to the current COVID-19 crisis in the country are inclusive, and mindful of the needs of persons living with disabilities, reports Guardian.
The Association’s Chief Executive Officer, Kenneth Suratt, makes a call for all information on COVID-19 to be provided in multiple formats, ensuring that persons with disabilities, especially people who are blind or have low vision, can be properly informed.
It also highlights the vulnerability of persons with disabilities to acts of violence and sexual exploitation, and urges the authorities to factor them in, as they strengthen capacity to deal with increases in gender-based violence during this time.
This Call for Action (Participation and inclusion, Access to information, Violence against blind and partially sighted women and girls, emergency, health etc) is produced by The Trinidad and Tobago Blind Welfare Association (TTBWA), the national organisation representing the estimated fifteen thousand (15,000) persons who are blind and partially sighted in Trinidad and Tobago.
The actions are in line with recommendations by the World Blind Union (WBU) and reflect the urgent needs to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and responses to the pandemic. The Association recognises the diversity of needs among persons with disabilities, especially in times of crises, and urge the Government and relevant stakeholders to adopt inclusive approaches to “leave no-one behind”.
