(Unofficial Translation)
“We are all invaluable to one another.”
A path that is easy for people with disabilities to walk on is also easy for people without disabilities. In a world where people with disabilities can lead their daily lives to the fullest without inconveniences, the lives of people without disabilities are also abundant. Marking the 40th Day of People with Disabilities, we contemplate the spirit that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.”
There is a saying that the center of our body is not the head or heart but “where the pain is.” The center of our community is also “where the pain is.” When this pain subsides, society in its entirety will have been healed.
While suffering from COVID-19, we’ve come to think more deeply about how those with and without disabilities can lead better lives together. A disaster does not hit everyone with the same magnitude. For those with disabilities and the vulnerable, disasters are even harsher. While suffering from COVID-19, we have become keenly aware of that fact once again. We have to be more attentive regarding how to convey information to those with disabilities when a disaster occurs, how to provide face masks and other infectious disease prevention and control supplies, how to resolve the absence of care for those with disabilities and their families during social distancing, and how to facilitate online classes. Only then will we become at least a little more equal when faced with disaster.
Having learned from the COVID-19 outbreak, the Government will overhaul the relevant system to ensure that those with disabilities do not suffer unfairly when compared to those without them during a disaster. I am very grateful to the many people who have endured and overcome inconveniences and difficulties in their daily lives in this moment. We will work harder to provide services tailored to the specific needs of people with disabilities and their families. We will also expand our policy efforts in regard to abolishing the “disability classification system.”
The COVID-19 outbreak is clearly a crisis, but it has become an opportunity to realize that guaranteeing the rights of those with disabilities is a way for us all to achieve happiness together. I am truly grateful for the fact that we are all invaluable to one another.