-----Original Message----- From: Dspd Enable [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Wednesday, January 27, 2010 2:48 AM To: [email protected] Subject: United Nations Enable Newsletter, January 2010
ENABLE NEWSLETTER January 2010 Our deepest condolences go out to all who have suffered loss from the recent earthquake in Haiti (see section on the Emergency situation in Haiti). The Enable Newsletter is prepared by the United Nations Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD) hosted by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. Input has been received from by UN offices, agencies, funds and programmes, as well as from civil society. It can also be read on-line at: http://www.un.org/disabilities. In this issue: § Update on the Convention § Emergency situation in Haiti § Highlights from the UN system § Upcoming events § Other news _______________________________________________________________ UPDATE ON THE CONVENTION 143 signatories to the Convention 88 signatories to the Optional Protocol 77 ratifications of the Convention 48 ratifications of the Optional Protocol Recent news: Mauritius ratified the Convention on 8 January 2010 Latvia signed the Optional Protocol on 22 January 2010. _______________________________________________________________ EMERGENCY SITUATION IN HAITI Note from the SCRPD: The international disability community is concerned about the thousands of people with disabilities in Haiti and the thousands more that will acquire disabilities as a result of the earthquake. Search and rescue, disaster relief and recovery teams will need to consider the needs of persons with disabilities in their efforts. In the context of reconstruction, attention should be given to both, rehabilitation of individuals, as well as "social rehabilitation". The concept of social rehabilitation can be explained as the evolving concept of rehabilitation – not only targeting individual persons with disabilities but also their communities and society as a whole. Persons with disabilities are adversely affected as a result of their disability in a disaster, often compounding their disabilities. In this context, societies need to be "accessible" and "inclusive" in all disaster management and reconstruction efforts, as they play a decisive role in future reconstruction and transitioning to a development phase. A number of relief efforts are underway by the UN system, bilateral and regional agencies, as well as DPOs and civil society organizations. We must all work to ensure that every facet of relief operations and reconstruction are disability-sensitive and inclusive. Current efforts underway for persons with disabilities in Haiti include: The Global Partnership for Disability and Development (GPDD) has established a Working Group focused on the reconstruction of Port-au-Prince. GPDD is an alliance of Disabled People's Organizations (DPOs), Government ministries, bilateral and multilateral donors, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national and international development organizations, and other organizations, committed to promoting economic and social inclusion of people with disabilities in low-income countries. The Working Group has been established to ensure that reconstruction and community rehabilitation efforts in Haiti include and involve people with disabilities in all stages of the emergency management and reconstruction efforts. The Group will also ensure that all rebuilt and new infrastructure is fully accessible and barrier-free to persons with disabilities. Work is underway to develop a common strategy and cooperate, establish partnerships among interested parties, and coordinate advocacy efforts. More information: http://www.gpdd-online.org. USAID, in coordination with the GPDD and its Working Group, as well as organizations of persons with disabilities, is working along with the United States’ Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). Currently, guidelines are being established for a coordinated U.S. Government response to the functional needs of Haitians with disabilities. USAID will engage with its development partners to assess their current level of involvement in Haiti and guide recovery efforts in a coordinated way, as well as make funds available for recovery and development efforts in the future. To help assist the thousands of aid workers responding to the Haiti earthquake, K4Health has organized the Haiti Relief Toolkit, a collection of practical and technical resources to help health workers respond more effectively to the relief efforts underway. The toolkit covers all vital sectors related to disaster relief, including health, water and sanitation, food security, and shelter, as well as key field activities supporting the operations, such as logistics. More information: http://www.usaid.gov, http://www.k4health.org. CBM, an international development organization, is working with 12 partners in Haiti, five of which are in Port Au Prince, the capital city. Their emergency coordinator and regional staff are now on the ground assisting with emergency efforts and assessing the situation. They have a three-part emergency response plan in place and are pulling together resources from across the world to meet the needs of persons with disabilities in disaster. CBM has been recognized as a professional organization for persons with disabilities by the World Health Organization and has Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. More information: http://www.cbm.org. _______________________________________________________________ HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE UN SYSTEM SCRPD/DESA – 48th session of the Commission for Social Development The Commission will meet at UNHQ in New York to discuss issues under the priority theme "Social Integration". The Provisional Agenda and documentation for the session is available at: Visit http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2010.html. The Commission will have before it the “Report of the Secretary-General on mainstreaming disability in the development agenda”. During the session, DESA will organize a side-event on 4 February entitled “Interactive Dialogue on Mainstreaming Disability in the Development Agenda: Disability-Inclusive Development Cooperation” that will be sponsored by GPDD-the Global Partnership for Disability and Development and others. Panelists representing major international development agencies will engage in an interactive dialogue with key civil society organizations on the priorities of their respective agencies and recent developments in international development cooperation. The interactive discussion will provide the basis for an in-depth discussion in the form of a second side-event on 9 February organized by the Government of Finland, GPDD, World Bank, DESA and other stakeholders. More information: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=43&pid=38. SCRPD/DESA Conference of States Parties to the CRPD The advance unedited text of the report of the second session of the Conference of States Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is now available on line at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1479. The third session of the Conference of States Parties will be held from 7-9 September 2010. OHCHR – HRC to hold an interactive dialogue on disability rights The Human Rights Council (HRC) will hold an interactive dialogue on the rights of persons with disabilities in the course of its 13th session. The event will take place in Geneva on Friday, 5 March from 3 to 5 p.m. on the topic of national implementation and monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Non-governmental organizations registered with ECOSOC and national institutions accredited by the International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights are welcome to attend the event. More information and the OHCHR study on national implementation and monitoring mechanisms are available at: http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/13session/. The event will be webcast at http://www.un.org/webcast/unhrc/. OHCHR – 3rd session, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The third session of the Committee will be held on 22-26 February. The Committee is expected to conclude discussions on the rules of procedure and on their working methods. More information: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx, UNICEF - Audio version of “It's About Ability” As a follow-up to the publication “It's About Ability” (May 2008), the child -friendly version of the CRPD and its companion the Learning Guide (September 2009), an audio version of the publication has been developed for visually impaired or blind children and is now available on the UNICEF website. The publication explains the CRPD and its main purpose to empower children with and without disabilities to play their part in challenging discrimination and promoting the Convention's principles. The Learning Guide will help children and young people aged 12 to 18 to speak out on the Convention and become advocates for inclusion in their communities. It offers lesson plans and suggested activities to be used by young leaders, peer educators, teachers and other educators at the community level. The audio version is available on the UNICEF website in MP3 format and can be down loaded in English, French and Spanish. More information: http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_43893.html. World Bank – Workshop on innovation in accessible transportation A one-day workshop entitled “Innovation in Accessible Transport for All” was held at World Bank Headquarters on 14 January. The workshop, sponsored by the International Transport Forum/OECD and the World Bank, focused on the role of innovation in promoting effective solutions to meeting the mobility and transport needs of disabled and older people in both developed and less developed economies. More information: http://go.worldbank.org/D3T2FH54K0. WHO - Community-based Rehabilitation Asia-Pacific Network Meeting The community-based rehabilitation (CBR) Asia-Pacific Network meeting was hosted by the Foundation of Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability in Bangkok, Thailand from 14 to 16 December 2009. The meeting was attended by representatives and observers from the region, as well as representatives from UN system organizations and international NGOs. The Network adopted its Constitution and agreed on a plan of action which will work to promote and strengthen national CBR networks; disseminate and implement the forthcoming CBR Guidelines; develop a website of resource materials related to CBR including good practice examples; and support the forthcoming second CBR Asia and Pacific Congress in the Philippines in 2011 and the first CBR World Congress in India in 2012. More information: Mr. Chapal Khasnabis, [email protected]. WHO Newsletter on Disability and Rehabilitation: December 2009 Features: International Day of Persons with Disabilities; Meeting on mobility devices; Update on Guidelines on CBR; Update on the World report on Disability and Rehabilitation; Lancet special issue on disability; Guidance on sexual and reproductive health for people with disabilities; Violence against people with disabilities; Update: disability and emergencies; Upcoming events. http://www.who.int/entity/disabilities/publications/newsletter/newsletter_on_disability_issue_9.pdf . WTO - Facilitates tourist travel for persons with disabilities The World Trade Organization (WTO) underscored the importance of facilitation of tourist travel by persons with disabilities in its “Declaration on the Facilitation of Tourist Travel” adopted by its General Assembly, at their 18th session held in October 2009 in Astana, Kazakhstan. The Declaration expresses the deep conviction of its Assembly that facilitation of tourist travel by persons with disabilities is a major element of any responsible tourism development policy. It affirms that responsible tourism is a necessary component of sustainable development strategies, which include the mainstreaming of disability issues. Furthermore, it urges that “great efforts should be made to ensure that tourism policies and practices are inclusive of persons with disabilities, the majority of them living in developing countries.” The Declaration reaffirms the principles from an earlier resolution adopted in 1991 (A/RES/284(IX), entitled “Creating Tourism Opportunities for Handicapped People in the Nineties.” and updated in 2005 in resolution A/RES/492(XVI) entitled “Accessible Tourism for All". The Declaration also endorses the general principles enshrined in Article 3 of the CRPD and invites all States to implement them. It also draws attention to the work which is being done by the Inter-Agency Support Group for the Convention. More information: Ms. Marina Diotallevi, [email protected]. _____________________________________________________________ UPCOMING EVENTS 2 - 5 February: Web accessibility workshop In a joint effort to promote accessibility, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) are organizing an accessibility workshop at WIPO Headquarters, in Geneva for staff of the UN system and other international organizations. The objective of this workshop is to promote awareness on accessibility and encourage webmasters within the UN system and other international organizations to implement accessibility in their daily work. More information: http://www.wipo.int/meetings/en/2010/wipo_itu_wai/ 3 - 12 February: 48th session of the Commission for Social Development The Commission will meet at UNHQ in New York to discuss issues under the priority theme "Social Integration". The Provisional Agenda and documentation for the session is available at: Visit http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/csd/2010.html. 20 February: One day Legal Capacity Conference This one day conference on CRPD Article 12 will be held at Harvard Law School, Hauser Hall, Room 104, Cambridge, MA/USA. The conference will present perspectives on the scope and operation of legal capacity by self-advocates with intellectual and psycho-social disabilities, academics, and other members of civil society from diverse regions of the globe. More information: [email protected]. 22 – 26 February: 3rd meeting of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (See OHCHR above) 3 - 5 March: Second Continental Congress on CBR The Pan-American Health Organization and the World Health Organization in coordination with the CBR (community-based rehabilitation) Network of the Americas and the Caribbean will organize this event on CBR in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Congress will be sponsored by the Government of Mexico. More information: http://www.riadis.net/a-world-for-all/ 28 - 30 March: Fifth South Asian CBR Network Conference The South Asian CBR Network will organize its fifth conference from 28-30 March in Kabul, Afghanistan. The conference provides an active forum to discuss global trends and local applications of policies, legislation, programmes and technology, as well a focus on grassroots-level issues. More information: http://www.cbrnetwork.af or contact: [email protected] or [email protected]. 12 - 13 April: 26th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference The Conference will explore new directions through scholarship, best practice, and international networking, as well as include an International Forum on the Rights of People with Disabilities, an international film festival and more. More information: http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu. 21 - 22 April: Human Rights and Persons with Intellectual Disabilities Conference The 3Rs CURA (Community University Research Alliance) is organizing a Conference at Niagara Falls, Canada, to explore the challenges that families, agencies, and advocates face in increasing the awareness of the abuse faced by persons with intellectual disabilities. The Conference is geared to educators, health professionals, justice officials, policy analysts, researchers, advocates, and self-advocates in a common purpose: to expand the awareness of rights education, and implementation for persons with intellectual disabilities. More information: http://www.3rshumanrights.com 23-27 May: 17th ESPRM Congress Entitled, “European Rehabilitation: Quality, Evidence, Efficacy and Effectiveness”, the 17th, European Society of Physical and Rehabilitation and Medicine (ESPRM) will be held in Venice, Italy. The programme will cover functioning biology (basic sciences), functioning technology (rehabilitation technology), clinical sciences (PRM in special health conditions), human functioning sciences (including epidemiology, social functioning and related topics), evidence-based rehabilitation and management. More information: http://www.cesprm2010.eu/index.html. 18 - 23 July: XVIII International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2010) AIDS 2010 will be held in Vienna, Austria and will mark an important milestone: the deadline by which world leaders have committed to ensuring universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. The conference will be an opportunity to evaluate progress to date and to identify what must be done, both individually and collectively, to achieve this critical goal. More information: http://www.aids2010.org. 7 - 9 September: 3rd session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD More details forthcoming. 20 - 22 September: Millennium Development Goals Summit Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend a summit next September to boost efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More information: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/Website%20story%20on%20Summit.pdf. 3 - 14 October: Commonwealth Games – Para Sports The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has officially released the Para-Sports Medal Events Programme for the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games following consultation with the International Paralympic Committee. The Games will take place from 3-14 October 2010 in Delhi, India, and will showcase world-class sporting opportunities for elite athletes with a disability. More information: http://www.paralympic.org/Media_Centre/News/General_News/2008_11_26_a.html . 30 October - 3 November: International Conference for Universal Design The International Association for Universal Design will organize the conference in Hamamatsu City, Japan. The theme of the third conference will be “For the People and the Earth of Tomorrow - Towards a Sustainable Co-existence”. The conference organizers are inviting educators, product planning and developers, administrators, consultants and civic activists and students to submit research papers, as well as reports and editorial articles. More information: http://www.ud2010.net/index.en.html. OTHER NEWS (The information below from the non-governmental disability community is provided for informational purposes only; they do not constitute endorsement of or an approval by the United Nations of any of the products, services, or opinions of the corporation, organization, or individual. The United Nations bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of their statements and opinions.) IDA conducts seminar on human rights monitoring mechanisms The International Disability Alliance (IDA) held a seminar entitled "Capacity building of NGOs of Persons with Disabilities to Make Effective Use of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mechanisms," on January 7 and 8 in the Palais des Nations in Geneva. The event was attended by more than one hundred participants from the disability rights and mainstream human rights community from over thirty countries. The seminar focused on a range of issues, including interaction with the UN treaty body system, development of parallel reports, participation in the Universal Periodic Review and interaction with UN Special Procedures, as well as monitoring the implementation of the CRPD at the national level. Speakers included, representatives from the OHCHR, members of treaty body committees, States parties to the CRPD and other treaty bodies, as well as international disability rights and human rights experts. More information: www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org. New publication: ‘The Forgotten’ - HIV and Disability in Tanzania Many of the four million people living with a disability in Tanzania are currently excluded from accessing health information and critical HIV services. An assessment was carried out in early 2009 in selected districts of Tanzania mainland in order to highlight the multiple challenges that people with disabilities face in HIV/AIDS service provision. This document presents the findings of that assessment and is published by the Tanzanian Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) and sup-ported by the German BACKUP Initiative and the Tanzania-German Programme to Support Health (TGPSH). More information: http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/gtz2009-en-hiv-and-disability-tanzania.pdf Call for papers - Colloquium on Disability Law and Policy A consortium of three leading national and international academic centres will host an inaugural colloquium for PhD candidates and post-doctoral/post-graduate researchers on disability law and policy. The Centre for Disability Law and Policy at the National University of Ireland, Galway, will host the initial colloquium from 26-27 April 2010. Deadline for submission of abstracts is 31 January. More information: http://bbi.syr.edu/events/colloquium_disability_law_policy/2010/application_paper_colloquium-on-disability_2010.pdf . PhD Scholarships in equality and diversity The Centre for Research in Equality and Diversity (CRED) is offering a PhD scholarship in the field of equality and diversity. More information: http://www.busman.qmul.ac.uk/research/files/studentship_2010_01.pdf. Summer school on Mental Disability Law in Practice The Central European University, in cooperation with the Mental Disability Advocacy Center will be conducting a summer school on “Mental Disability Law in Practice”. The two-week course will be held in Budapest, Hungary, from 19 to 30 July. Practicing lawyers, human rights activists and academics in the field of mental health and disability rights from Europe and Africa are encouraged to apply. This applied legal practice course aims to strengthen the capacity of participants by exploring disability rights in real life. Using the CRPD and other international legal instruments, the course aims to increase participants’ awareness of mental health law practice, and introduce them to methods of engaging in legal and policy reforms. The course will be conducted by internationally renowned scholars and policy experts. Deadline for applications is 15 February. More information: http://www.summer.ceu.hu/mentaldisability. Annual Disability Statistics Compendium: 2009 The Disability Statistics Compendium is the first of what is intended to be an annual publication of statistics on people with disabilities and government programmes that serve the US population with disabilities. It is modelled after the Statistical Abstracts of the United States that are published yearly by the U.S. Department of Commerce. More information: Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics, Hunter College, http://www.disabilitycompendium.org. Reelabilities: NYC Disability Film Festival 2010 Reelabilities, the second annual NYC disabilities film festival is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different disabilities. Discussions and other engaging programs will bring together the community to explore, discuss and celebrate the diversity of our shared human experience. More information: http://www.reelabilities.org. Enabling elections for disabled persons in Sri Lanka An interesting article to raise awareness about the issues related to the participation of persons with disabilities in the lives of their societies: More information: http://sundaytimes.lk/100117/News/nws_73.html CONTACT INFORMATION The Enable Newsletter is prepared by the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, Division for Social Policy and Development, Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) at the United Nations Secretariat in New York. Mailing address: Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2 UN Plaza, DC2-1306, New York, NY 10017. Website: http://www.un.org/disabilities Email: [email protected] To remove yourself from our email list, please reply with the word "UNSUBSCRIBE" in the Subject line. Notice: This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you are not the intended recipient, any dissemination, use, review, distribution, printing or copying of the information contained in this e-mail message and/or attachments to it are strictly prohibited. If you have received this email by error, please notify us by return e-mail or telephone and immediately and permanently delete the message and any attachments. The recipient should check this email and any attachments for the presence of viruses. The Bank accepts no liability for any damage caused by any virus transmitted by this email. To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in
