European Year for persons with disability

The government has accepted an invitation from the European Union to take all the necessary measures to ensure that the European Year for Persons with a Disability meets its aims next year.

Social Policy Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the aims of the year were for society to have concrete information on what disability was; that people with a disability would make a useful contribution to society; and that a concrete plan would be drawn up and implemented with the full contribution of the disabled themselves.

The government, Dr Gonzi said, had set up a central committee representative of the major organisations in the field to coordinate the necessary work.

The committee was inviting every organisation to hold activities during the year and take concrete initiatives which would offer equal opportunities to people with a disability and their families.

The official programme for events would be drawn up by the end of October, so any proposals must be received by the middle of that month.

Proposals should be addressed to Eugene Galea, coordinating secretary, European Year for Persons with a Disability Committee, c/o National Commission for Persons with a Disability, tel. 21245952, fax 21484609, e-mail, pr@kndp.org.

Dr Gonzi said that as the committee`s budget was low, it could only consider requests for small donations to cover costs.

Requests for such help should be made by the end of July.