Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-01-19-Speech-4-064"
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"en.20060119.6.4-064"2
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"Mr President, this debate demonstrates that disability is a significant issue and that it must be taken into account when drawing up the European Union’s development cooperation policies.
It is clear that disability and poverty are very closely related, and disability is also closely linked to disease and lack of health care. We already knew this in Europe, where disability is much more widespread in the marginal sectors of society and where, furthermore, disabled people from those sectors suffer much more as a result of their condition than those from other more comfortable sectors. What we are seeing now is that, in a similar way, disability affects the developing world much more than our industrialised countries and that disabled people in the South suffer as a result of their condition much more than those in the developed North.
The resolution that we will adopt identifies this situation and calls on the European Union to take responsibility for combating it. The Commission will receive a recommendation from Parliament, calling on it to take account of the phenomenon of disability in all of its actions, both in the European strategy for the development of Africa and in the European consensus on development. This resolution should also help increase awareness of this problem on the part of our governments and populations.
Having said all of that, however, and though the Socialist Group is committed to making every possible effort in this field, I feel that it is important to highlight the actions of certain developing countries that are demonstrating an admirable degree of solidarity in combating those forms of disability most closely related to poverty, lack of health care and underdevelopment itself.
Cuba is unquestionably one such country: It has not been content simply to have a policy aimed at preventing and alleviating disabilities within its own society but, for some years now, has also been providing very significant assistance to other countries in relation to this phenomenon.
An example of this is what is known as ‘Operation Miracle’, as a result of which, and with resources provided mainly by Venezuela, more than 208 000 blind Latin Americans and Caribbeans had their sight restored in 2005 following free operations in Cuba.
The recently elected President of Bolivia, Evo Morales, signed a series of agreements in Havana. One of them is intended to allow more than half a million blind Bolivians to be treated firstly in Cuba and then in several ophthalmological clinics that will be set up in Bolivia by Cuban specialists and using Cuban technology.
Similar projects are underway in Venezuela and other Latin American countries, and talks are being held with South Africa in order to explore similar initiatives. These actions should be valued in the European Parliament, just as they are in the countries in question, much more than fine words and well-intentioned resolutions."@en1
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