The special day, which appeared in 1992, is aimed at drawing attention to the rights of people with disabilities The lack of participation in solving the problems of this category of citizens led to the unification of a group of activists from 17 European countries They held the first Day of Struggle for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on May 5, 1992
The event became a regular event and annually attracted more participating countries Even in economically developed, civilized countries, people with impaired health, physical or mental, face discrimination and infringement of rights in education and employment The purpose of this date is to encourage the creation of effective legal mechanisms against this An example is the American ADA law, but this is an isolated case
An important event for people deprived of health was the 2006 UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities It was signed by a record number of parties on the day of its announcement It ensures equal rights in all areas - from civil-political to cultural-social According to WHO, more than 15% of the population have various forms of disability; The most unfortunate thing is that a tenth of them are children These figures are growing every year
If the current topics on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, celebrated on December 3, are how to eradicate the causes that lead to disability, then on May 5 - how to specifically help After all, only in some countries the rights of a particularly vulnerable group of people are fully protected by law, but even this does not guarantee their equal, comfortable existence along with other citizens
In Russia, which signed the Convention along with other countries, only in May 2012 a special law was introduced giving it legal force But this was the beginning of providing guarantees, and the annual International Day reminds of the problems of 13 million disabled people in Russia Charity events, public rallies, and lessons in tolerance are the main components of this day The contribution of each person is valuable: it does not matter whether it is expressed in financial assistance or free participation as a volunteer An important task on May 5 is to try to make people with disabilities understand that there is someone to fight for their rights, because the main achievement in the life of every member of society is the skill of empathy and participation