World Braille Day Speech

Galumalemana Steven Percival, Director of Tiapapata Art Center

Ari Hazelman,

Mata’afa Fa’atino Utumapu, President of Samoa Blind People’s Association,

Excellencies Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

Dear Colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On behalf of the United Nations, a very warm welcome to the observance of the World Braille Day and best wishes to you all for a peaceful, healing and just 2021. Allow me to acknowledge with much appreciation Steve Percival’s initiative to launch the Braille version of his book “Seu and the Ruffled Bird Catcher” on this day in which we give recognition to the Braille language for the remarkable contribution made to more inclusive societies and to the exercise of the fundamental right to education and to written communication, regardless of any visual limitations we may be born with or acquire in our lifetime.  

On this day, I also wish to commend the efforts made by the Government and the civil society in Samoa along with development partners to advance the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (ratified on 2 Dec 2016) and enable full integration of persons living with disabilities in the society and the economy of Samoa.

The story of Seu and Pati is touching and highly inspirational for all its readers, but, above all, it gives voice to the fundamental need for human rights to govern our lives and free us from biases and all forms of discrimination and insecurity that break the social fabric and lead to inequality and exclusion. 300 million people around the world and over 7,000 in Samoa are, just like Seu and Pati, breaking down the walls and calling for stronger social contracts to make this world a better place for all mankind. No nation can advance without inclusive social systems and full recognition of human rights and freedoms, which are central to the United Nations mandate and goals.

The spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is that whatever makes us different cannot take our rights away. In our differences, there is social, economic, moral and spiritual value as they challenge humanity to exercise solidarity, inclusiveness, innovation and continued transformation in order to allow progress to happen. Progress can only be sustainable if it benefits everyone. The most resilient nations are those who have left no one behind in the design of their socio-economic system and that’s what we want to achieve together everywhere by 2030.

The pandemic showed us where we went wrong over the last decades – primarily by insufficiently investing in Research & Development and by allowing large parts of the population to be outside of the healthcare and social protection coverage. It is almost impossible in the middle of a health crisis of such magnitude to fix the science deficit and the coverage gap of health and social protection systems in which investment has been suboptimal for so many years. The result of this deficient development model is the current substantial economic contraction and joblessness and the accompanying social distress that continues to grow everywhere with marginalized groups being impacted the most. Very importantly, we unwisely allowed ourselves to harm nature and break ecologic chains with expanding adverse consequences on human health. In the absence of bold action, the COVID-19 pandemic may be just the beginning of a long journey of human suffering.

Forward- not backward- looking, we have an opportunity to redesign economies and societies with the understanding that universal health and social protection coverage are essential safeguards to enable countries to absorb -at declining costs- the shocks the global system will unfortunately continue to experience.

And we have started in Samoa and in the Pacific to build social protection floors and address the very important component of benefits and services for persons with disabilities, enabling their access and their socio-economic integration.

With the establishment of the Disability Reference Group by UNESCO within the Joint Social Protection Programme for which the SDG Fund of the United Nations allocated USD 3.0mill USD, we aim to design a social protection pillar for persons living with disability that is culturally sensitive while meeting international standards as set out by the United Nations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability and the broader Bill of Rights. The floor will better define disability, introduce the institution of caregiver, tailor financial benefits to actual needs, expand accessibility in all its forms and enhance education programmes to enable access to powerful technological solutions available today and in the future. Very importantly, protection against all forms of violence will guarantee a life in dignity to all.  

But for such systems to perform to their highest potential, we all need to understand the value within each and everyone of us that, beyond appearance, is what makes us better people and better societies. Seu’s and Pati’s journey through a fascinating world of sounds and shapes that deeply connected them with the nature is an invitation to a life in harmony with each other and with the generous planet we have, navigating together to a future of living as one.

To mother Earth, we are no different.     

Faafetai tele lava.

Soifua.