We celebrate National AccessAbility Week every year starting on the last Sunday in May. The week raises awareness about accessibility and inclusion of people with disabilities in Canadian communities and workplaces. In 2024, National Accessibility Week takes place from Sunday, May 26th until Saturday, June 1st.

 

Simultaneously, on the first Monday in June (June 3rd, 2024), we celebrate Independent Living Across Canada Day. We come together to recognize the barriers that have been removed so persons with disabilities can live independently as well as the work that continues to be accomplished for independent living, accessibility, and inclusion for all! 

 

In recognition of National AccessAbility Week and Independent Living Across Canada Day, RISE is asking everyone to help us celebrate by participating in our 4th Annual Motion Challenge.

 

• CHALLENGE:  Any form of exercise; counting steps, yoga, dancing, gardening, walking around your neighbourhood, stretching programs, floor hockey, bowling, exercise bike, rowing machine, horseback riding, etc.  Any type of movement counts!

 

• DATE: May 26th – June 3rd, 2024

 

• RISE’s GOAL: 8030 km - that's the distance, coast-to-coast, across Canada.

 

• TO MEASURE YOUR GOAL: 15 min = 1 km

 

You can get your pledge form by: 

• Phone:  705-746-6996

• Email: admin@risecil.ca

• Download:  Pledge Form

 

Get your friends, family, and community involved.  All proceeds from this fundraiser goes towards RISE’s programing and peer support groups.  The Challenge is on!  I’m daring you!  Good luck!

 

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International Day of Persons with Disabilities

(December 3)

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History

The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic, and cultural life.

Building on many decades of UN’s work in the field of disability, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted in 2006, has further advanced the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and other international development frameworks.

 

Definition

A disability is a condition or function judged to be significantly impaired relative to the usual standard of an individual of their group. The term is often used to refer to individual functioning, including physical impairment, sensory impairment, cognitive impairment, intellectual impairment, mental illness, and various types of chronic disease. This usage has been described by some disabled people as being associated with a medical model of disability.

 

Persons with disabilities, “the world’s largest minority”, have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities, and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. This is largely due to the lack of services available to them (like information and communications technology (ICT), justice or transportation) and the many obstacles they face in their everyday lives. These obstacles can take a variety of forms, including those relating to the physical environment, or those resulting from legislation or policy, or from societal attitudes or discrimination.

 

People with disabilities are at much higher risk of violence:

• Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children.

• Adults with some form or disability are 1.5 times more likely to be a victim of violence than those without a disability.

• Adults with mental health conditions are at nearly four times the risk of experiencing violence.

 

Factors which place people with disabilities at higher risk of violence include stigma, discrimination, and ignorance about disability, as well as a lack of social support for those who care for them.

 

Inclusive Society and Development

Evidence and experience show that when barriers to their inclusion are removed and persons with disabilities are empowered to participate fully in societal life, their entire community benefits. Barriers faced by persons with disabilities are, therefore, a detriment to society as a whole, and accessibility is necessary to achieve progress and development for all.

 

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) recognizes that the existence of barriers constitutes a central component of disability. Under the Convention, disability is an evolving concept that “results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinder their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others.”

 

Accessibility and inclusion of persons with disabilities are fundamental rights recognized by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and are not only objectives, but also pre-requisites for the enjoyment of other rights. The Convention (Article 9, accessibility) seeks to enable persons with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in all aspects of life and development. It calls upon States Parties to take appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to all aspects of society, on an equal basis with others, as well as to identify and eliminate obstacles and barriers to accessibility.