Global-Report-Living-Colour-dr2-2

Inclusive Communities = Stronger Communities
GLOBAL REPORT ON ARTICLE 19: THE RIGHT TO LIVE AND BE INCLUDED IN THE COMMUNITY
89
Inclusion
19.(c) “Community services and facilities for the
general population are available on an equal basis
to persons with disabilities and are responsive to
their needs.”
The concept that communities should be organized to
ensure the inclusion of all its citizens is not a new idea, yet
it is one that distinguishes the movement of people with
intellectual disabilities and their families from other
disability groups. For many people with physical or
sensory disabilities, they may be able to
receive a service or accommodation which
would enable them to participate fully in the
existing education system, access
transportation or health care in much the same
way that others in the community do. For
people with intellectual disabilities there are
no single or simple adaptions which enable
them to participate on an equal basis with
others. In order for real inclusion to be realized
for people with intellectual disabilities,
communities and mainstream systems
(political, economic and social) must be
designed to include all its citizens. While this
paradigm shift is reflected in the CRPD, it is one that
Inclusion International adopted in our work years before
the Convention was negotiated.
The CRPD was crafted to make a paradigm shift in the way
people think of disability. Part of that shift is the
recognition that persons with disabilities are active
members of society with something to contribute. In
order for people who have a disability to participate and
be included in society, several articles of the CRPD address
participation and inclusion specifically:
• General principles (article 3)
• Right to education (article 24)