RIADIS congratulates to the first  Latin American President with disability elect

04/10/2017 Ecuador, Quito – On Sunday April the 2nd. Presidential elections were held in Ecuador, being the winner Lenin Moreno, the first Latin American president with motor disability.

According to the Latin American and Caribbean Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS, in spanish), the victory of Lenin Moreno represents a step forward on the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.

RIADIS is comprised of 55 organizations of people with different types of disability over 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in their struggle for rights through the values of non-discrimination and inclusive development to improve the quality of life and social inclusion for Persons with disabilities and their families, as well as to promote the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the United Nations 2030  Agenda.

In 2012 Lenin Moreno, was appointed as Ambassador for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Latin America and Honorary Member of RIADIS, by Its General Assembly, given his full support  to the V Latin American Conference for Persons with Disabilities, held in Quito; Lenin Moreno also has undertaken various initiatives in the area of disability.

Through world history, the first president with disabilities was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in the United States. Roosevelt had physical mobility limitations, produced by poliomyelitis, which meant partial paralysis.  Lenin Moreno is the second president with disability chosen worldwide and the first in Latin America. 

Lenin Moreno served between 2013 and 2016 as UN Special Envoy for Disability and Accessibility, appointed by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. 

In this regard, RIADIS extends its congratulations to Lenin Moreno for his  achievements and it`s open to the possibility of working together in order to cooperate with the enforcement of the human rights of Persons with Disabilities and achieving inclusion in Ecuador.

Via President RIADIS. 

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