The University of the West Indies (UWI) has established a Centre for Disability Studies (CDS), which began operations on August 1. The CDS will be involved in advancing the development agenda of persons with disabilities within the Caribbean, through research, academic studies, training and advocacy, which will assist in the region becoming a truly inclusive society by 2030.

The CDS has evolved out of the Office of Special Students Services which was established to give critical support to students with disabilities at UWI. This office has played an indelible role in advancing the cause of students with disabilities at the institution over the last 20 years. It has assisted many students with disabilities in their programme of studies and transformed their lives in a fundamental way. But while the Office for Special Students Services has played this transforming role for a few members of the community of persons with disabilities, it is felt that this level of success is worthy of being extended to a larger segment of the targeted population in Jamaica and of being replicated throughout the Caribbean, hence the decision to establish the CDS.

aim of cds

The CDS aims "to transform and empower disabled individuals throughout the Caribbean through the use of applied research, education and training and public advocacy" and the vision is "to make UWI the premier research, academic and policy formulating institution for the disabled in the Caribbean and to assist in incorporating members of this community in a broader productive network in the region".

The UWI, through the establishment of the Centre for Disability Studies, is continuing its mission to develop and empower the people of the Caribbean including persons with disabilities. The CDS is the mechanism by which The UWI will seek to build a significant body of research on this vulnerable community, thereby leading the developmental agenda for persons with disabilities in the Caribbean.