The United Nations Country Director in Papua New Guinea, David McLachlan-Karr, says he is saddened by the way the country treats those with disabilities.
Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities and Mr McLachlan-Karr says ratification by PNG of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, would be a welcome step forward.
He says the Convention is a guide to help governments improve their treatment of the about one tenth of the population with disabilities.
Mr McLachlan-Karr says it would be a step to overcoming the marginalisation and stigmatisation of disabled people.
"Who are kept at home, kept out of sight as if it is some sort of embarrassment. That is really a mind view that needs to be overcome and I think that if government took the appropriate measures to ensure that people could get around and employers opened their doors to people with disabilities a lot of that stigma would disappear."
The UN Country Director in PNG, David McLachlan Karr.
