National Action Plan on Disability

The Republic of Cyprus has ratified and incorporated into its national legislation, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in 2011, by the approval of The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Related Issues (Ratification) Law of 2011, L. 8(III)/2011.

The Ministers’ Council with its Decision No. 73.519 dated 9.5. 2012 appointed the Department for Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities of the Ministry of Labour, Welfare and Social Insurances, as the Focal Point concerning the implementation of the UNCRPD.
The Department for Social Inclusion of People with Disabilities co-ordinated, with the state services responsible for disability issues, the preparation of the First National Disability Strategy 2018-2028 and the Second National Action Plan for Disability 2018-2020.
The First National Disability Strategy 2018-2028 is built on the principles of the Strategic Planning Guide of the Ministry of Finance (vision, values, goals, objectives) and is linked to the recommendations made to the Republic of Cyprus by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Committee, the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and the Council of Europe's Disability Strategy 2017-2023. Its purpose is to define the vision, values, strategic goals and objectives of the Republic of Cyprus for the implementation of the rights of persons with disabilities, by directing all the state actors towards those actions that will add value and will further improve the quality of persons with disabilities’ life.

The Second National Disability Action Plan covers a three-year period from 2018 to 2020. The actions are presented per Ministry and are either in progress or new actions. In total, there are eighty-five (86) actions that concern eight minitries: forty-six (46) ongoing and forty (40) new actions, the main expected results of which are to promote:
(a) independent living, social inclusion, mobility and social protection of people with disabilities,
(b) their employment and vocational training,
(c) education,
(d) the accessibility of persons with disabilities to the natural and built environment, transport and information,
(e) provision of health and rehabilitation services,
(f) information and awareness raising on disability issues.



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