Government Implementation of the Standard Rules
As Seen By Member Organizations of
World Federation of the Deaf - WFD

Belize

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© Dimitris Michailakis 1997 National Association of the Deaf, Belize
No reply was received from the Government of Belize.

General policy

The officially recognized disability policy is expressed in law and in policy adopted by NGOs.
The emphasis in this policy is on prevention, accessibility measures, rehabilitation, individual support and anti-discrimination law.

Since the adoption of the Rules, the government has not done anything to convey the message of full participation.

Legislation

The rights of persons with disabilities are protected by a combination of special legislation and general legislation. There are no judicial mechanisms to protect the rights of persons with disabilities. Administrative and other non-judicial bodies include independent expert bodies.

General legislation appies to persons with different disabilities with respect to education, employment, political rights, access to court of law and the right to privacy. The following benefits are guaranteed by law to persons with disabilities: health and medical care, training, rehabilitation and counselling and participation in decisions affecting themselves.

No new legislation concerning disability has been enacted, since the adoption of the Rules.

Accessibility

There are no rules to ensure accessibility of the built environment. The following measures have been promoted by the government in order to facilitate accessibility in the built environment: levelling off pavements, marking parking areas, installing lifts and accessible toilets and ensuring access to public places. There are no special transport arrangements for persons with disabilities. The most difficult obstacles, when planning to build accessible environments, are economic/budgetary factors, technical factors, geographical and climatic factors, lack of legislation and regulations, lack of planning and design-capacity, lack of knowledge, research and information, lack of user participation, lack of co-operation from other organizations/institutions and lack of enforcement mechanism. There is no disability awareness component incorporated in the training of planners, architects and construction engineers.

Sign language is recognized as the official language of deaf people, is used as the first language in education of deaf people, is recognized as the main means of communication between deaf persons and others. There are no government measures to encourage media to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities but government measures to encourage other forms of public information to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities, e.g. by way of libraries, museums, schools and churces.

Organizations of persons with disabilities

There are legal provisions mandating the representatives of persons with disabilities to participate in policy-making and to work with governmental institutions. Organizations of persons with disabilities are often consulted when laws and regulations with a disability aspect are being prepared. Consultations occur at the national level. The government financially supports existing or new organizations of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities participate to a very limited extent in government, legislatures, judicial authorities and political parties but to a great extent in NGOs. The role of organizations of persons with disabilities is to advocate rights and improved services, identify needs and priorities, contribute to public awareness and provide services.

Co-ordination of work

There is no national co-ordinating committee or any similar body.

The adoption of the Rules has not led to a rethinking of the approach to disability policy.

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