The Mayor’s Office of the National District (ADN) and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) updated their working agreement to promote the inclusion of people with disabilities in Dominican Republic.
This will be done by implementing training on inclusion and disability for ADN personnel, accessibility of public spaces, employment programs, and other initiatives to develop an inclusive municipal agenda.
The institutions made this commitment at an event led by Carolina Mejía, mayor of the National District, and Inka Mattila, UNDP representative.
The institutions added that this working agreement is part of the comprehensive cooperation strategy in favor of sustainable development to strengthen local governance and raise the quality of municipal services with transparency, putting citizens at the center.
131,198 people with disabilities living in the DN, pointing out the importance of these efforts to guarantee their effective access to the physical environment, transportation, communication, information, and services and facilities open to the public in urban areas.
People with disabilities have experienced many limitations in accessing health and support services during COVID-19. The survey “COVID-19 situation of people with disabilities in the Dominican Republic”, carried out in April by the UNDP and the National Disability Council (Conadis), identified as main needs for people with disabilities: access to employment and the need for financial support, strengthen mechanisms to provide specialized medical care and the availability of information in an accessible format.