Statement by President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella To celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Courtesy translation

To celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, released the following statement:

«Seventeen years since the approval of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, numerous obstacles continue to hinder the exercise of fundamental social, political, labour, and economic rights. We deem unacceptable the superficiality with which expressions are used on social media that offend the suffering of so many people and families who are increasingly alone in having to combat the phenomenon of social exclusion.

In our Country, families have always represented the mainstay of persons with disabilities, engaged in exhausting battles to try to make up for the lack of assistance and welfare to which their loved ones are exposed.

It is our duty to acknowledge the enormous value of those who take care of their loved ones, being often obliged to give up their jobs and forsake their aspirations.

It is necessary to change the perspective from which we look at disability, overcoming the prejudices and stereotypes that still affect millions of people.

It is people on whose potential we must invest because their skills, their resilience, creativity, and willpower are a resource for us all.

Persons with disabilities ask to be able to live independently: attend school, work, and enjoy themselves. They simply want to be able to live their lives with dignity and exercise their rights.

It is something that concerns us all, personally and as a community, in order to contribute to build a more inclusive present accessible to all. »