Women with disabilities to discuss employment and income priorities

Women with disabilities in the Digby, Yarmouth and Shelburne area will soon get the opportunity to talk about changes they need to become self-sufficient and to feel like equal members of their communities.

A round table for women with disabilities will be held Tuesday, March 27 at Nova Scotia Community College's Burridge Campus, in Yarmouth. The invited participants have already been contacted.

The Advisory Council on the Status of Women will use the input to recommend changes that could better the lives of women with disabilities in southwestern Nova Scotia. This is the last of three events to establish priorities and plan action to improve the economic well being of women with disabilities. "Women with disabilities need equal opportunities for education and employment," said Carolyn Bolivar-Getson, Minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women. "I look forward to hearing from them."

The advisory council is working with the Department of Community Services, Disabled Persons Commission, Digby Disabilities Partnership Committee, West Nova Inclusive Employment Society, Nova Scotia Community College, and the Centre for Women in Business to plan and implement the round table discussion. "Women with disabilities face so many challenges and this round table will give them a chance to speak and to be heard," said Andrea Noah, manager, West Nova Inclusive Employment Society. "May this be the beginning of many positive changes so that they can become full members of society and with equal status in the workforce."

The round table aims to promote the full inclusion of women with disabilities. It will allow women to describe the most pressing issues they face in education, training and paid employment, and accessing income. It will also give them an opportunity to discuss improvements they would like to see in these areas.

The advisory council has held two other round tables on women with disabilities, in Amherst and Sydney. After this event, it will make recommendations to government and communities for changes that will allow women with disabilities to have a living wage.