Cerro Largo is above the national average in people with disabilities
Within the framework of the dialogue towards the 1st National Plan for Accessibility and the Rights of People with Disabilities, the National Director of Disability of the Ministry of Social Development was in Melo.
It revealed significant data from the last Population and Housing Census, carried out in 2023, which established that in Cerro Largo the percentage of people with disabilities is above the national average.
The gap between training levels is also alarming.
“The first component is to think about the reality of disability in terms of population. Historically, institutional and legislative responses were focused on responses to the demands of particular groups” express Federico Lezama.
“Although that was responding to a lot of needs, what we find today is that there are many potholes in the course of life: there are services that concentrate on the first stages, but after 18 people with disabilities do not have educational insertion, they do not have job insertion and it becomes much more difficult to sustain life” broad.
“We did an analysis of the 2023 Census that shows that at the national level 6.6% of the population has a disability” said. “We are also analyzing it on a departmental and local level. Here in Cerro Largo, 7.2% of the population has a disability and if we go to some locations, such as Río Branco, that percentage increases to be above 8%” revealed the National Director of Disability of MIDES.
These indicators allow the State to have a real perspective of the population that finds itself in this situation.
Lezama announced that with the teams of the Ministry of Social Development together with other institutions they will draw lines of work that address these realities, to understand what is happening and what the needs are.
ALMOST 60% ONLY COMPLETED PRIMARY EDUCATION
“Some important data here from Cerro Largo, which in many cases coincide with those of the rest of the country, have to do with gaps in access to rights” held. “When people with disabilities are asked what the highest educational level achieved is, almost 60% are Primary, compared to 26% when people who do not have a disability are asked” revealed.
“Unemployment rates also double. Living with a disability always means being relegated in the exercise of rights” he stated.
Although this is known at the level of social work, it was not yet dimensioned, it had never been quantified in this way, so it represents a very important point of work for the coming years.
The idea is to mediate the impact of the actions taken from now on to the extent that the gap is narrowed.
“It is the first time that work on disability policies has been focused in this way” assured Federico Lezama.
“There is a very long wealth throughout history in important actions linked to disability, especially with a component linked to social security, but when we see the indicators we realize that our strategies have not been as effective as they need to be” admitted the National Director of Disability.
He announced the creation of the National Institute for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which will be the governing body for policies in this regard. For the first time in history it will have a first-level rank within the Ministry, in the same way that the National Women’s Institute or the National Youth Institute is today.
“We hope that these steps achieve actions that become effective in people’s daily lives” Federico Lezama sentenced.
