Dili, June 18, 2025 (Média Democracia) – The Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice (PDHJ), in institutional cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), organized a workshop on the Monitoring and Evaluation of the five-year implementation (2021-2025) of the National Action Plan for People with Disabilities (PAE-EhD 2021-2030). The workshop took place at the Cathedral Hall in Vila-Verde, Dili, on Monday.
The Ombudsman for Human Rights and Justice, Virgilio da Silva Guterres, stated that the objective of the workshop was to share the assessment results of the National Action Plan for People with Disabilities over the past five years with relevant ministries and target groups.
“I believe the purpose of this workshop is to present to the public, through the entities we invited, including ministerial lines, civil society representatives, and target groups. We aim to share the results of assessments conducted by PDHJ through its legal and administrative development analysis unit, involving 11 ministries and all target groups,” said Virgilio da Silva Guterres.
The Ombudsman highlighted the ongoing challenges faced by people with disabilities, who continue to express concerns over the lack of inclusivity by the state and government, particularly in public infrastructure developments such as roads and public spaces that remain inaccessible.
“In some aspects, we want to highlight the challenges faced by our colleagues with disabilities who continue to express concerns about the inconsistency of our government in applying the principle of inclusivity. For instance, we see in Dili the development of roads and public spaces that still do not consider accessibility for people with disabilities,” he explained.
He further mentioned that the promotion of opportunities for people with disabilities in public administration remains minimal. While public entities provide information for non-disabled people, people with disabilities often do not receive the same information due to the lack of inclusive communication systems, a key challenge that PDHJ faces.
“Today, I mentioned that our colleagues with disabilities continue to express dissatisfaction because the development concept regarding inclusion remains insufficient. Instead of us bringing services to them, they should also be actively involved and participate in the process,” he emphasized.
He reaffirmed that development for people with disabilities remains limited, especially in public spaces, roads, and within ministerial administrative services that fail to offer inclusive services. People with disabilities have the right to administrative access and public development.
The Technical Head for Inclusive Education (TI) from the Ministry of Education (ME), José Monteiru, stated that the National Action Plan (PAN) for People with Disabilities continues to be monitored through this workshop, ensuring its implementation across 13 ministries.
“The implementation of the National Action Plan for people with disabilities requires each ministry to carry out their role according to their sector. This workshop is based on PDHJ’s comprehensive analysis, and monitoring continues to ensure effective implementation,” said José Monteiru.
He clarified that although initially 11 ministries were involved, the total number of ministries implementing the National Action Plan has reached 13, including the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of State Administration, which were added later.
“The Ministry of Education plays a bigger role compared to others as it has more programs directly related to disability inclusion. Currently, there are 12 key indicators across these ministries involved in the National Action Plan’s implementation,” he emphasized.
He reaffirmed that the National Action Plan for People with Disabilities (2021-2030) has successfully implemented several programs that have improved access for people with disabilities, but more programs are expected to be implemented in the next five years across all ministries.
Report: Nelfiano
Photo: Nelfiano