How can Parliaments be more accessible to persons with disabilities? A View from Fiji

THE CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS FACING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IN THE COMMONWEALTH

The month of November marks the Fijian Parliament’s first year of membership with the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD) network. As the CPwD Pacific Regional Champion, I extend my sincere gratitude to the CPwD Capital Investment Fund for the funding provided to host the first ever ‘Fijian Parliament Open Day for Persons with Disabilities’ on 3 December this year to coincide with the International Day for Persons with Disabilities.

Parliaments can contribute enormously to raising public awareness on the human rights, issues and concerns of marginalised groups such as persons with disabilities. That is why this year, we are hosting the first open day for persons with disabilities with the aim of achieving greater awareness and engagement on the subject. This event is also being organised in partnership with two key national actors, namely, the Fiji Association of the Deaf (FAD) and the Fiji Disabled People’s Federation (FDPF), recognising that partnerships with civil society organisations (CSOs) and relevant stakeholders provide the impetus for greater awareness and success.

This event aims to achieve the following key outcomes: 1. To provide an opportunity for MPs, advocates and key actors to connect and discuss key issues related to persons with disabilities; 2. To provide our participants and stakeholders with information on the role of Parliament and encourage persons with disabilities to actively participate in the legislative policy making process; and 3. To create an ideal opportunity for Parliament to become more inclusive, accessible and representative of all Fijians, including marginalised groups such as persons with disabilities.

Apart from creating a space for discussion and knowledge sharing, a key highlight of this event is the handing over ceremony of newly purchased high-end headphones to the Fiji Association of the Deaf by His Excellency Ratu Epeli Nailatikau, the Speaker of the Fijian Parliament. This newly purchased equipment will be used by the sign language interpreters for the Parliament and Standing Committee sittings. This assistance has come about following the request from the FAD for support in the work of interpreters engaged in Parliament. The new equipment will replace the audio speaker that transmits the audio from the Chambers and the Standing Committee conference rooms to the interpreter’s booth and allows the interpreters to have their dedicated headphones, improving their concentration and focus by taking away outside sound and interference. The low power consumption design also allows for extended working hours of over ten hours, so the interpreters can be connected for longer periods of time.

The theme of the open day is based on the CPwD mission statement – ‘To encourage Commonwealth Parliaments to enable effective and full participation of persons with disabilities at all levels’. Not only does this theme resonate with SDG Targets 16.6 and 16.7, but it also encompasses the vision of the Fijian Parliament of being a resilient and responsive Parliament.

The Fijian Parliament has demonstrated its commitment to this vision through its ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in 2017 followed by the enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act in 2018. In October this year, Fiji became the first country globally to pass a Climate Change Act with a clear commitment to the Paris Agreement. The Climate Change Act 2021 explicitly recognises the economic, social and cultural rights and links between gender equality, social inclusion and the Sustainable Development Goals and highlights women’s rights, rights of people living with disabilities and of older persons, and children’s inalienable right to a healthy environment.

The ratification of the CRPD and passing of comprehensive legislation helps to promote and protect the basic rights of persons with disabilities in Fiji and helps those individuals live fulfilling and independent lives as students, workers, family members and citizens. They are able to do so because the physical and cultural barriers that had previously hindered their full participation have been removed.

In addition to legislation, Parliament, through its oversight function, plays a key role in ensuring respect for the human rights of persons with disabilities. Oversight of the Executive on social issues such as persons with disabilities is undertaken by the Standing Committee on Social Affairs – of which I am the Chairperson. We track the work of Government departments and Ministries, and we have the power to summon any person to appear before the Committee to give evidence or provide information. Furthermore, Parliamentary oversight takes place both when the budget is being formulated and during expenditure. As Members, we can ensure that the impact of the proposed budget on different social groups, such as persons with disabilities, is discussed and monitored.

Additionally, Members of Parliament continue to make statements and raise awareness in the House on issues pertaining to persons with disabilities with the most recent statement made during International Week of Deaf People and International Day of Sign Languages in September of this year. Members of Parliament continue to support the inclusion of Fiji’s sign language at an institutional level, including raising awareness on the rights and needs of deaf people.

The Fijian Parliament has also progressively worked towards ensuring that the Parliament is accessible by persons with disabilities, and this has been achieved through the installation of wheelchair ramps in the main Parliament foyer and in each of the Committee meeting rooms. In strides to ensure that information and communications in Parliamentary sittings are accessible to persons with disabilities, the Fijian Parliament has since 2015 engaged sign language interpreters during the sittings.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, persons with disabilities faced significant barriers to accessing key information and participating in the legislative making process as a result of social distancing protocols and lockdown measures. Despite these challenges, the Fijian Parliament adapted quickly and ensured the efficient delivery of Parliamentary and Committee sittings through investing appropriately in: establishing and managing an agile future-focused IT strategy; ensuring the availability of essential IT equipment and resources, and; embedding and enforcing a technology culture within the institution to ensure that despite the challenges, Parliament would still continue to operate and continued to deliver on its mandate to legislate, represent and undertake oversight.

To conclude, if Parliament is ever going to succeed in having ‘effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels’ and ensure decision-making is ‘responsive, inclusive, participatory, and representative’ (UN SDG 16), then it must engage, collaborate and educate its citizens, national actors and stakeholders working in the interest of underrepresented groups such as women and girls, and persons with disabilities.

Hon. Viam Pillay, MP is the Assistant Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Environment. He has been a Member of the Fijian Parliament since October 2014 and is the Chairperson of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs. In 2020, he was elected as the Pacific Regional Champion of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians with Disabilities (CPwD).

“Parliaments can contribute enormously to raising public awareness on the human rights, issues and concerns of marginalised groups such as persons with disabilities. ”