The National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities

10/04/2024

𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭-𝐋𝐨𝐚𝐧 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬
If you are a person with disability and you are interested in accessing a grant-loan opportunity with no collateral requirements to help boost or launch your Micro, Small or Medium-sized Enterprise, please take note:
The Ministry of Commerce has implemented the MSME Loan-Grant Facility. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝟳𝟬% 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟯𝟬% 𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝟯% 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗻𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.
Send us a message with your full name, address, age, your type of disability, your business name and what services you provide or intend to provide and we will connect you to this exciting opportunity.

27/02/2024

See our ease of harvesting healthy, full lettuce in our Aquaponics Facility operated and managed by persons with disabilities.

Members of the National Council For Disabilities reaped the rewards of their aquaponics project today, harvesting a fresh crop of romaine lettuce. This initi...

03/12/2023

𝗛𝗮𝗽𝗽𝘆 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀
MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE NCPD

Dear Members, friends and well-wishers of the NCPD, it brings me great joy to greet you on the occasion of IDPD 2023, which we are celebrating under the theme “United in action to rescue and achieve the SDGs for, with and by persons with disabilities”.

This day of celebration of our diversity and achievements established by the UN has been observed annually since 1992. Organizations of and for persons with disabilities and our supporters are united globally at this time in our promotion of greater understanding of our dignity, well-being and rights.

We at the National Council of and For Persons with Disabilities have had another exciting year where, through the support of our local, regional and international partners, we have been able to implement life enhancing programmes for our members. We have just concluded our Mobility Aid Clinic in Castries, our fifth consecutive annual drive made possible by a large donation of brand-new wheelchairs, walkers and crutches from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Over the past few months, we have been establishing an advanced and accessible Aquaponics Facility in Vieux Fort for the training and operation by persons with disabilities. We are to officially launch this project in early 2024. This state of the art, climate resilience facility was funded by the GEF Small Grants Programme, Massy Stores, Lucelec, Republic Bank, Cabot Saint Lucia and the 2020 Prime Minister’s Independence Ball Fund. We have partnered with the National Skills Development Centre to implement this pioneering project on their compound. We are already supplying organic produce, grown solely by persons with disabilities to Coconut Bay Resort which was elated to guarantee us a market at a premium price. We also supply Family Food Mart in La Ressource which was our first commercial buyer and is a loyal customer.

We are extremely grateful for these Partnerships in helping us play our part in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals such as promoting employment, climate action, reducing inequalities and ending hunger and poverty.

The UN Convention on The Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Sustainable Development Goals provide complementary platforms for our continued advocacy for the full realization of equality and inclusion of persons with disabilities and to living out this year's IDPD theme. We will utilize the language of these vital resources in order to secure the best outcomes for our constituents and to elevate the discussion on a disability inclusive Saint Lucian society and economy.

The SDGs which specifically mention people with disabilities will boost our efforts in promoting:

• Inclusive learning environments, accessible schools and the elimination of barriers which impede the expression of intelligence and creativity of students with disabilities - SDG #4
• Greater employment opportunities for persons with disabilities to allow us to play our part in contributing to economic growth and national development – SDG # 8
• Effective social, economic and political inclusion of persons with disabilities thereby minimizing inequality – SDG # 10
• Creating sustainable cities and communities which are accessible, affordable, safe and productive for all - SDG # 11
• Partnerships for the Goals and requiring the collection of reliable, disability disaggregated data and efficient monitoring of the SDGs - SDG #17

This IDPD 2023 theme places a direct call on persons with disabilities to lead the rescue of the SDGs through united actions. Together we will continue to do so much more by the Grace and Mercies of God.

The journey continues.