Yesterday the Disabilities Act was signed into law by the governor general, but this piece of legislation has been in the works since 2021. It all started after Disability Desk Coordinator for the Ministry of Human Development, Marshall Nunez, attended a virtual conference where a template for disability legislation in the Caribbean was presented. After that, the first disability conference was hosted in Belize, and this act was born out of that conference.
In 2023, the act went to Cabinet. In June of this year, it was read in the House for the first time. By July, it was unanimously ratified by the Senate.
Nunez says it's been a rewarding experience, and while enforcing the legislation will be the next battle, he believes the country is already on its way to being more accessible.
Marshall Nunez, Disability Desk Coordinator
"Really rewarding and exciting feeling, and I think not only for me but for the constituency of people with disabilities and I think for the country as well."
"Yesterday, God willing, the governor general signed and ascended the bill and so we're now at the process where we'll have to start to implement the bill."
"I was to also dispel the notion that we're not ready. A lot of work has been done, has been taking place, except they were taking place in silos. A lot has been done, if you go around you'll know that a number of buildings already have ramps, they have wheelchair accessible bathrooms, but right, the expectation out of this new law is that compliance will take place. I think people need to know, the country needs to know, Belize as a signatory to the United Nations Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, we have an obligation to ensure there is domestic legislation put in place. I think the strides will be made. Already, the culture and the respect for persons with disabilities is growing, the advocacy is catching on and I think it's an important message to say to the general public that we need to respect the dignity and the inherent rights of people with disabilities. For the most important reason that you are just illness or one incident from being disabled."
"The act sets out to establish a national disability commission so the commission will then be able to listen to grievances and concerns of people with disabilities. That will be done through the establishment of a disabilities secretariat. There is also a disability and equal opportunity tribunal that will be established and we are currently working on the establishment of a disability registry. These are some salient stuff that is coming out of the legislation. But in terms of access and accessibility, where access is a high priority, access to health, access to education, access to transport, access to buildings. The legislation says that within reasonable time public buildings will have to make sure they become compliant and accessible to people with disabilities. Public buildings by definition under the legislation are any buildings that the public needs to access. And so those are very interesting expectations that will come out of the legislation."
And we asked him whether he believes the disabilities act will open the path to the Equal Opportunities Bill being tabled in the House.
Marshall Nunez, Disability Desk Coordinator
"This is a very political question. This bill is separate and apart from the Equal Opportunities bill. However, I believe that at this time and in this era, the Equal Opportunities Bill has its own place and I think it's time for it to come. I know there are a lot of people with reservations but similar to people with disability human rights, people who the Equal Opportunity Bill will protect are also human and have their human rights."
