Under the patronage of the Presidency, the Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (BSEIPH), the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Haiti (CCIH), in partnership with the Project of Strengthening of Legal Framework for Persons with Disabilities in Haiti of the Organization of American States (OAS), organizes Monday, September 10, 2012 a discussion with the Haitian private sector on the Law on the Integration of People with Disabilities published May 21, 2012 in the Official Journal "Le Moniteur".

Funded by the OAS, this meeting to be held at the Hotel Montana, will be an opportunity for the various actors to undertake relevant discussions on the issue of disability. It will also allow to briefly review the social and legal aspects of the law and encourage the Haitian private business sector to engage with the Haitian government in the process of integration of people with disabilities on the labor market in particular, and in the life of the nation in general.

Taking into account the socio-economic impact of disability, the Secretary of State Gérald Oriol Jr firmly believes that it is up to the entire Haitian societyto follow suit in order to achieve a real change of behavior vis-à-vis those with special needs. According the BSEIPH, the disability may be permanent, it can be also temporary. According to this consideration, in our lives, we are called to plan and live differently, by creating channels for inclusion in our immediate environment. These small individual actions have a significant impact as long tha ywill be repeated and will be part of an overall strategy of inclusion.

Since the country has an Office of the Secretary of State for the Integration of Persons with Disabilities (BSEIPH), we are witnessing of a mobilization at the level of the Haitian state in order to improve the living conditions of disability, not to mention the ratification of Conventions of the United Nations (UN) and of the OAS on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 12 March 2009. As many measures promoting the access for the disabled to basic services and their inclusion in the national life.

The recent publication of the Law on the Integration of Persons with Disabilities provides an opportunity for all sectors of Haitian society to play heir part in the process of inclusion of persons with disabilities. Especially since this law highlights a number of social parameters, economic and political which in the past were relegated to the background.

The understanding of this law by any Haitian citizen, is of great importance because it highlights the obligations of the state and of the society, which can only strengthen and unite the society, while helping to correct some falsehoods, created and maintained, often by ignorance.

HL/ HaitiLibre