The Maia Chung Autism and Disabilities Foundation (MCADF) recently  staged the company’s first ever press conference in it’s 11 year lifespan, to provide a platform for Jamaicans living with disabilities and Autism to get their issues addressed by  the Jamaican government.

Held in September 2019, General Manager of the MCADF  Cinquain Smith announced that starting in 2020 the press conference will be  a monthly activity, to allow the nation’s Autistic and disabled to get their needs addressed as according to the affected, not only are they not being provided for by their Government but that some measures and support systems that were in place up to 5 years ago, have become obsolete.

The attendees spoke on their various problems and questioned, why …in 2019, the State had yet to implement most of the fundamental infrastructural support systems,  that would guarantee  Jamaica’s challenged population human rights, be on par, with those of Jamaicans without disabilities.
The attendees of this first press conference indicated,  that as the first country to sign… as well ratify, the United Nation’s Charter on the Rights of the Disabled, the immense lack, under which the vast majority of them live in that country,  have gone  into the realm of a violation of their human rights.
This the affected said, would indicate that as a signatory country to this Charter, Jamaica should be sanctioned by the UN, where they have failed to meet, the global standards set in this area.
The affected persons who attended this first press conference, which is to be a new feature of the MCADF’s work, spoke of sexual abuse due to their challenges, lack of adequate school and training facilities, physical abuse and the glaring absence of many pertinent services that they should be accessing as citizens of Jamaica,  challenged or not.

Ms. Baker was rendered wheelchairbound after a car accident, when she was still attending high school.

The press conference was developed as a part of the solutions being offered by the MCADF, as it continues to play its role as an advocacy agency for hundreds of challenged Jamaicans.

Mr. Smith indicated that there has been an anecdotally noticeable uptick among the hundreds of the organization’s clients in requests for help of all types to the MCADF.

Reportedly not being able to access the Governmental services that are supposed to be a part of the State’s responsibilities, they have been deluging the Foundation, with more requests for help in areas such as health, education, employment, transport, and more, indicating, they  are now more than ever living at sub-human standards. 

Dozens of those who are clients of the MCADF allege that attempts to get the State to address their needs are being ignored. In addition, those who can pay for services are realizing that none are being developed with consistency, and are quite unaffordable where they exist.

The press conference, is a new tactic by the MCADF, in its mission to get the Human Rights of the challenged in Jamaica, a part of the government’s priority.

They shared with several journalists that they are being violated, abused and preyed upon by unscrupulous people, due to their inability to cope and the desperation it causes.

The attendees spoke on their various problems and questioned, why in 2019, the State had yet to implement most of the fundamental infrastructural support systems,  that would guarantee  Jamaica’s challenged population’s Human Rights.

The attendees of this first press conference noted that Jamaica as the first country to sign as well as ratify the United Nation’s Charter on the Rights of the Disabled, is an indication that the government should be sanctioned and called into accountability by the UN, as they fail to adhere to stipulations on a document they rushed to sign.

Jodiann Baker, one of the conference attendees, spoke to the media about some of the problems the challenged live with in 2019 Jamaica. Ms. Baker was rendered wheelchair bound after meeting in a car accident, when she was still attending high school. Among the problems she highlighted was the absence of jobs for those who can help themselves and are educated and skills trained.

Founder of MCADF, Maia Chung  indicated to the media that the next ten years of the organization’s work will be geared towards reaching out to the United Nation’s Council for Human Rights, as attempts by the Foundation to work with the two governing parties, have yielded no results. She said, “after all our requests we will have to take these problems global”.