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

Costa Rica

Download 'WFD Reports on the UN Standard Rules' as a PDF file (240 KB)

---

© Dimitris Michailakis 1997

WFD, Costa Rica
No reply was received from the Government of Costa Rica.
Compare with the following Country Report(s): DPI, ILSMH, WBU

General policy

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. The judicial mechanism adopted to protect the rights of persons with disabilities includes due process (legal remedy through the courts) and recourse procedure by a special agency, dealing with anti-discrimination issues. Non-judicial bodies include: an Ombudsman, a governmental body (administrative) and independent expert bodies. General legislation applies to persons with different disabilities with respect to education, access to court of law and right to privacy.

Accessibility

The only measure which has been promoted by the government in order to facilitate accessibility in the built environment is marking parking areas. There is no special transport for persons with disabilities. The most difficult obstacles, when planning to build accessible environments are economic/budgetary factors, geographic and climatic factors, lack of legislation and regulations, lack of planning and design capacity, lack of user participation, lack of co-operation from other organisations/institutions and lack of enforcement mechanism. There is no disability awareness component incorporated in the training of planners, architects and construction engineers.

Sign language has no officially recognized status. There are no government measures to encourage media and other forms of public information to make their services accessible to persons with disabilities. The following services are provided in order to facilitate information and communication between persons with disabilities and others: literature in Braille/tape, news magazines on tape/Braille, sign language interpretation being available for any purpose and easy readers for persons with mental disabilities.

Organizations of persons with disabilities

There is no national umbrella organization. There are no legal provisions mandating the representatives of persons with disabilities to participate in policy-making or to work with governmental institutions. Organizations of persons with disabilities are sometimes consulted, when laws and regulations with a disability aspect are being prepared. The government gives financial and organizational/logistic support to organizations of persons with disabilities. Persons with disabilities participate to a very limited extent in government, legislatures, judicial authorities, and political parties, and to a great extent in NGOs. The role of organizations of persons with disabilities is to advocate rights and improved services, mobilize persons with disabilities and promote/organize income generating activities. Organizations do not identify needs and priorities, participate in the planning, implementation and evaluation of services and measures, contribute to public awareness or provide services.

Co-ordination of work

The co-ordinating committee is reporting to the Prime Ministers office. The government expects the committee to participate in policy development and to perform other tasks. The effects the establishment of the co-ordinating committee has had are: improved co-ordination of measures/programmes, improved legislation, improved integration of responsibility, more effective use of resources and improved promotion of public awareness.

The adoption of the rules has led to a rethinking of the approach to disability policy.

---

Contents of the WFD Report | Compare with the following Country Report(s): DPI, ILSMH, WBU