I INTERDISCIPLINARY ACADEMIC SYMPOSIUM ON DISABILITY RESEARCH
University of Costa Rica, August 19-21
- Presentation
The International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities states
that: “Persons with disabilities include those who have long-term
physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairments which, in
interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective
participation in society on an equal basis with others” (Art. 1).
According
to Costa Rica’s National Population Census of 2011, there are more than
450,000 people with disabilities in the country, which represent almost
a 10% of the total population. Meanwhile, in the National Register of
Statistics on Disability report from 2011’s first quarter, the National
Council for Rehabilitation and Special Education (CNREE, Spanish
acronym) notes that the disabilities taking the first place throughout
the population are those associated to body movements -physical
limitations- (35.02%), followed by mental disabilities (31.12%).
Although these numbers vary depending on the country, the fact is that
people who carry a disability status represent the minority group with
the highest social exclusion rates in the world (about 10% of the
population).
Moreover,
some countries have created and enforced legal documents aimed to
protect people with disabilities’ rights, and to fully achieve their
social inclusion. In this regard, Costa Rica has approved legislations
such as Law 7600 and Law 8661; conversely, neither the number of people
with disabilities nor the laws have prevented this population from being
discriminated and socially excluded.
On
its jurisdiction, since 1973, the University of Costa Rica has made
administrative, academic and educational efforts to comply with this
population’s demands. For instance, in 2011 the Institutional Program on
Disabilities (PRODIS, Spanish acronym) was created with the main goal
of bringing together all the teaching, investigation and social action
efforts regarding the field of disabilities.
In
this context, and given the social exclusion status that people with
disabilities live, the need to promote the development of research and
studies in the field, as well as to create interdisciplinary work teams
to approach this complex reality has arisen. This has encouraged the
Research Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CIBCM, Spanish
acronym) and the Institutional Program on Disabilities (PRODIS) to carry
out the First Interdisciplinary Academic Symposium on Disabilities’ Research, which will take place from the 19th to the 21st of August 2015.