Policymakers and experts have identified ways in which persons with disability can enjoy the benefits of Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs). This, during a meeting hosted by ECLAC Caribbean.

While ICTs can break down barriers and ensure that everyone can participate actively in society, many people with disabilities are currently not able to use computers, access the internet or handle smartphones and other mobile technology. In the Caribbean, this is particularly worrisome, given that there are approximately 1.3 million persons with a disability of some kind and around 250,000 persons with a significant disability.

It is for this reason that ECLAC Caribbean undertook a study to research ways to bridge the digital divide that affects persons with disabilities. One of the solutions identified is the use of Universal Service Funds (USFs), which are instruments that can finance equal access to ICTs. USFs aim to increase access to telecommunication services through a levy on telecommunication providers.

In the subregion, there are currently ten USFs, and a further nine countries have legislation that would enable the establishment of a USF. Historically, USFs have faced challenges ranging from high levels of undisbursed funds to low levels of transparency and mismanagement.

Until recently, these shortcomings engendered a cautious approach to USF adoption for improving access to ICTs for persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups. However, new opportunities for increasing the effectiveness of USFs emerged today, during discussions among key stakeholders at the ECLAC Caribbean meeting.

Participants provided feedback on the findings of ECLAC’s latest study, offering perspectives on its conclusions and recommendations.   The meeting identified best practices and robust suggestions for countries wishing to establish or improve an existing USF to increase access to technology for persons with disabilities.

Participating today were persons with disabilities and their organisations, representatives from universal service funds, telecommunications departments and regulatory bodies from a number of Caribbean countries as well as from regional telecommunications organisations, including the Eastern Caribbean Telecommunications Authority (ECTEL) and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)…[+]

WASHINGTON– President Donald Trump yesterday proposed tighter monitoring of the internet, mental health reform and wider use of the death penalty in response to two mass shootings over the weekend that left 32 people dead in Texas and Ohio.

Trump, a Republican, whom Democrats have accused of stoking racial divisions, said Americans must “condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy,” a day after Texas officials said racial hatred was a possible motive in the killings of 22 people in the southern border city of El Paso.

A 21-year-old white man has been charged with capital murder in Saturday’s shooting spree at a Walmart store. Police in El Paso cited a racist, anti-immigrant manifesto posted online shortly before the shooting, which they attributed to the suspect, Patrick Crusius.

Trump did not address accusations that his own anti-immigrant and racially charged comments have contributed to a rise in race tensions, nor did he call for broad gun control measures. “These sinister ideologies must be defeated,” he said in remarks at the White House. “Hate has no place in America. Hatred warps the mind, ravages the heart and devours the soul.”(Reuters)…[+]

The Kingston-based Harvest Temple Apostolic Church has vowed to press on, declaring that it has nothing to be ashamed of as its disgraced pastor awaits sentencing on sex-related charges after impregnating a 12-year-old girl.

Last week, Pastor Kenneth Blake pleaded guilty to two counts of having sex with a person under 16 years old and one count of sexual touching in the Home Circuit Court. He had been denying the charges for two years, despite DNA tests revealing that there was a 99.9 per cent chance he was the father of the minor’s child.

At yesterday’s first Sunday service since the guilty plea, senior church leaders insisted that the pastor’s sins would not be the congregation’s shame.

“God doesn’t deal with wrong. If somebody is wrong, then they will receive their pay for what they do. I am free through the Son of God and there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus,” a female elder, who did not wish to be identified, told The Gleaner after yesterday’s service. “What happened cannot affect the church, which is built on Jesus Christ. I am not afraid and I am not cast down because the church didn’t do anything wrong,” she added.(Jamaica Gleaner)…[+]