UN Special Rapporteur on rights of persons with disabilities arrives in Bishkek
AKIPRESS.COM – At the invitation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Kyrgyzstan, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities Heba Hagrass arrived in Bishkek, the press service of the Central Election Commission reported.
The purpose of her visit is to understand and assess the legal, political and institutional framework regarding the rights of persons with disabilities and the measures taken for their successful implementation.
Chairperson of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Nurjan Shaildabekova met with Heba Hagrass and told about a number of measures taken by the CEC to expand the participation of persons with disabilities and their representative organizations in the election process and a political life.
The CEC representatives said that a special attention was paid to the needs of voters with disabilities. Each polling station should have a needs map, including voters with disabilities indicating the type of disability and appropriate assistance necessary for voting, they noted.
“Compared to 2017 (27%), the equipment of polling stations with ramps has increased more than 3 times, to 97%. Work is currently underway to ensure compliance of the standards for ramps and this is subject to prosecutorial supervision, as well as a rule of law that not only ramps should be available, but also how they meet the standards,” the UN Special Rapporteur was told.
The CEC noted that the next step should be comprehensive work on ensuring a general unhindered environment, including roads to the polling station.
Heba Hagrass told about her experience as a candidate, working in the national parliament of Egypt, and international practice to promote participation of people with disabilities as candidates.
She shared her experience in the Egyptian parliament, where a quota for persons with disabilities was introduced.
The CEC representatives said the issues of availability of polling stations for people with disabilities are being resolved.
Heba Hagrass noted that the issues of inclusiveness, accessibility, the ability to vote and be elected, and full participation in the social and political life of the country are very important for the persons with disabilities. And the measures taken by Kyrgyzstan are a great achievement and progress in the area of ensuring the electoral rights of persons with disabilities.
