The Human Rights Commission is continuing with the national campaign to educate people about their rights under the constitution and the importance of it being preserved and promoted.

In a session on Friday in the STC conference room, the commission targeted twenty elderly people, people with disabilities and victims of domestic violence.

This meeting is one of a series that was launched earlier this year at the Savoy hotel, Beau Vallon, which is being financed by the European Union under a 3-year project worth 210,000 euros.

When he was officially opening this half-day work session, the chief executive of the Seychelles Human Rights Commission, Elvis Julie, said that even though the task of organizing this number of sessions is not easy, it is important because of the protection and promotion of human rights. it guarantees a fairer, more democratic society where all citizens live in dignity.

“Today in the room we see elderly people, people with disabilities and people who represent victims of domestic violence. But when we look at age, when we look at disability, when we look at lifestyles and living conditions, we see that there are people in the room. This is the humanity that we share.”

Mr. Julie said that this meeting is to let them know more about the country’s constitution and their rights.

During the session, participants learned the meaning of human rights and the country’s constitution through a presentation by Sophie Lagrenade, senior officer for education and training.

They then separated into groups to talk about the right to dignity, education, employment, the right to a safe environment and to be protected equally under the law.

According to the coordinator of this project, Andy Jean-Louis, this meeting is the last one for this year and one to let the guests know their rights and their importance, and educate them about human rights in general. He says that even if these rights are guaranteed on paper, it is not necessarily so in practice, where these people are placed on the same level as other citizens.

“The point of this proposal was just education and promotion where you come to do something, and talk about the constitution and tell him what is his right. When you do this, the problem ends immediately, but as the Human Rights Commission, we do not want it to end immediately. We want the people in this session to raise issues that they feel affect them and face, such as discrimination, and we want the commission with its partners to do more to promote human rights,” according to Mr. Jean-Louis.

Among the points raised in Friday’s session was the access of the elderly and those with disabilities to services such as health care and employment opportunities.

One of the participants who spoke to Seychelles NATION was Walter Bertin, who has a disability in one part of his leg. He says that victimization against people with disabilities in Seychelles is common and alarming.

Mr. Bertin has worked for twenty years in the lottery and even reached the level of ‘trainee manager’ in a restaurant. But after he fell ill for the last 7 years, he has never worked.

“It seems your life is over, you don’t have the right to get a job because you don’t have a safe place. In this case, you can be more productive than someone who has both sides. Since you put on your application that you are missing somewhere, no one will contact you,» he said.

He said he hopes to get a job soon and also wants to be a voice for people with disabilities and show that they are not there.

“Give us the opportunity to show what we can do in life,” he said.

So far, the Human Rights Commission has held sessions with school students, teachers, media, prison and probation officers and non-governmental organizations.

Source: Seychelles Nation