A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People: delivery plan

Foreword by Dr Jim Elder-Woodward OBE

The great Mahatma Gandhi once said:
'The future depends on what we do in the present'.

It is the case, for example, that the bright, rosy future depicted by the good intentions behind many pieces of domestic legislation and international conventions quite often play out very dimly in the day-to-day lives of many disabled people.

Whether or not the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ( UNCRPD) will be any different will (to paraphrase Gandhi) depend upon what we do today. And by 'we,' I mean everyone involved in the lives and futures of disabled people, of all ages; be they politicians, civil servants, professionals, local government officers, carers (both formal and informal) and of course, we, disabled people, ourselves.

The Scottish Government - and the Equality Unit in particular - has made a sterling start in preparing this Disability Delivery Plan. They have involved everyone described above in its development - including disabled people and their organisations. With such involvement from the outset, I hope that those who have helped to develop the plan will be motivated and committed enough to deliver it.

I am indeed honoured to have been asked to write this foreword to the Scottish Government's Disability Delivery Plan; and wish to thank everyone who has contributed to it for their hard work and commitment. But, to everyone charged to take this Delivery Plan forward, I urge you to remember Mahatma Gandhi, and turn it into a Plan which will deliver; for what good we do today, will transform the lives of disabled people tomorrow.

Dr Jim Elder-Woodward OBE
Independent Chair
Scottish Independent Living Coalition