News Release: Radical Inclusion Report

NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Human Rights Advocates in Edmonton release report to United Nations

Radical Inclusion raising critical issues around disability rights

Edmonton (August 31, 2021) – Concerned with the lack of accountability and progress made on the rights contained within the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, over the past year a team of thirteen people, known as Radical Inclusion, have worked diligently to develop and submit a formal report to the United Nations’ Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities highlighting the challenges and need for progress on disability rights. This report is also being released to relevant government bodies in Alberta and Canada responsible for advancing and promoting disability rights. The Report on the Status of People living with Disability in Alberta highlights five critical areas which need to be urgently addressed in relation to financial barriers, employment and careers, housing, healthcare, and access to justice.  

“The struggle for the rights of people living with disabilities in Canada is wrought within a historical system of eugenics and dehumanization,” notes the report.  “The systems in Alberta, which this report examines, are set up to further disable and disenfranchise. However, if the rights of people with disabilities are advanced and upheld in our communities , we can make fundamental shifts to strengthen our economy and society.

Radical Inclusion launched in September 2020 in an effort to create a safe space led by people living with disabilities to deepen their understanding of human rights and to articulate the current human rights violations that they face on a daily basis. The growing network encourages all Albertans and public officials to engage with the report and learn how each of us can contribute to a stronger society where all belong, are included and valued. Radical Inclusion can be reached at radicalinclusion@jhcentre.org. 

Radical Inclusion is a project developed from a collaboration between people living with disability in Alberta and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights. 

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Roxanne Ulanicki Donna Bulger Renee Vaugeois

Radical Inclusion Radical Inclusion John Humphrey Centre

780 240 0442 780 499 6167 780 975 1116