ARTICLE - ECUADOR - SOLIDARITY FOR DISABLED

SOLIDARITY MEETING IN ECUADOR FOR GREATER COMMITMENT TO DISABLED (Prensa Latina) -

Quito, Ecuador - The first continental meeting América Solidaria (Latin America in Solidarity) concluded in this capital with a call for governments to assume greater commitment to disabled citizens, who are currently more than 52 million in the region.

The Vice President of Ecuador Lenin Moreno, said civil societies must make their own the commitments acquired in this meeting, in order to achieve the full inclusion of the disabled in the whole continent.

Moreno expressed his country's willingness to spread the experience acquired through the Manuela Espejo solidarity mission, which envisages the detection, diagnosis and assistance to inhabitants needing special attention.

As a result of this international gathering, an agreement of cooperation was signed among Ecuador, Haiti and the World Bank, to start a study of the disabled in Haiti in July, in order to create a portfolio of projects in line with the needs of the Haitian population.

Participants also agreed to hold in October this year a meeting of the Ibero-American Organization of Social Security (OISS), in the Galapagos Islands, where a program is to be presented, aimed at declaring 2014 as the Year of the Social Inclusion of the Disabled.

At least 15 percent of the world population suffers some form of disability, and of those living in Latin America, 80 percent live below the poverty level; lacking access to training in schools, and jobs adapted to their diversity, according to official estimates.