Sharing Knowledge
Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber (the College) is committed to providing an accessible learning, working, and living environment for the Humber community. It is the College’s goal to create a community that is inclusive of all persons and supports all members of the community in an equitable manner. In creating such a community, the College aims to foster a climate of understanding and mutual respect for the dignity and worth of all persons.
December 3: International Day of Persons with Disabilities
City of Toronto: International Day of Persons with Disabilities(IDPWD)
About IDPWD
The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPWD) in 1992. It is an international, annual observance intended to promote understanding of disability issues and the importance of the dignity, rights, well-being, and integration of people with disabilities in all aspects of life.
Virtual Event – December 3, 2021
This year the City of Toronto will co-present a virtual event with Toronto Public Library to celebrate the stories, lived experiences and inclusion of people with disabilities through showcasing their contribution to the arts.
Join us online on Friday, December 3rd from 9:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. by phone or online.
This event will be English captioned and ASL interpreted. If you require other accessibility supports to join this event, please contact accessibility@toronto.ca.
How to Join
Webex link: https://toronto.webex.com/toronto/j.php?MTID=m8c3e9c7b6d3a2e52b2fd19c3a0d0bf4b
Event number: 2451 338 7172
Event password: IDPD (4373 from phones)
Join by phone: 416.915.6530 (Canada Toll)
Access code: 245 133 87172
United Nations – International Day of Persons with Disabilities
What disability means
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 of 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 shows 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.
Facts & Figures
- 7 billion people: world population
- Over 1 billion people in the world have some form of disability, that’s 1 in 7
- More than 100 million disabled persons are children
- Children with disabilities are almost four times more likely to experience violence than non-disabled children
- 80% of all people with disabilities live in a developing country
- 50% of disabled persons cannot afford health care
- 180 countries have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
- 7 targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) explicitly refer to persons with disabilities.
Humber Is Committed to Individuals with Disabilities
The College supports and facilitates the accommodation of individuals with disabilities. Accommodations ensure that individuals with disabilities have access to all the opportunities that the College offers. Humber will work to eliminate or minimize the adverse effects of all forms of barriers.
The College is committed to supporting the goals of the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). The College will continue to establish policies, practices and procedures which are consistent with the accessibility standards established under the AODA, to identify, remove and prevent barriers to people with disabilities3,4. The goal is to become a barrier-free environment in the activities of the College including the learning, working and living environment.
Achieving the above stated goals depends on the participation of each member of the College community including students, faculty, staff, alumni, volunteers, and guests. Each of these parties has a role in creating an equitable and inclusive environment, as well as in the accommodation process and the identification, removal, and/or reduction of barriers. The consultative relationship among members of the College community is based upon a shared desire for an open, supportive learning, working, and living environment and a shared respect for individual rights and dignity.
Resources:
-
City of Toronto. (2021, November 30). International Day of Persons with Disabilities. City of Toronto. Retrieved November 30, 2021, from https://www.toronto.ca/explore-enjoy/festivals-events/international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities/.
-
United Nations. (2021, November 22). Background | International Day of Persons with Disabilities. United Nations. Retrieved November 29, 2021, from https://www.un.org/en/observances/day-of-persons-with-disabilities/background.
-
Humber College. (2020, September 1). Accessibility Policy. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://humber.ca/legal-and-risk-management/policies/human-resources/accessibility-policy.html.
-
Humber College. (2018, December 11). Human Rights Policy. Retrieved December 1, 2021, from https://humber.ca/legal-and-risk-management/policies/human-resources/human-rights-policy.html
This document is available in an alternate format upon request.
