ENABLE NEWSLETTER



ENABLE NEWSLETTER

September-October 2012

The United Nations Enable Newsletter is prepared by the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (DSPD/DESA) with input from UN offices, agencies, funds and programmes, as well as from civil society organizations, including organizations of persons with disabilities. It is also available online at: .

In this issue:

- Status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

- Highlights from the UN system

- Upcoming events

- Other news

STATUS OF THE CONVENTION (CRPD)

124 ratifications of the Convention

154 signatories to the Convention

74 ratifications of its Optional Protocol

90 signatories to its Optional Protocol

Dominica ratified the Convention and its Optional Protocol on 1 October 2012

Chad signed the Convention on 26 September 2012

Israel ratified the Convention on 28 September 2012

Poland ratified the Convention on 25 September 2012

Russian Federation ratified the Convention on 25 September 2012

Swaziland ratified the Convention and its Optional Protocol on 24 September 2012

Conclusion of the 5th session of the Conference of States Parties

The 5th Session was held from 12-14 at UN Headquarters in New York. More than 750 participants attended the opening of the Conference, which called for two additional spill-over rooms for attendees. Under the theme: "Making the CRPD count for Children and Women”, the Conference programme included: the election of nine members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, two roundtables, an informal panel discussion, and an interactive dialogue with the UN system, as well as general debate segments. The two roundtables and informal panel discussions were organized around three topics-“technology and accessibility”, “children with disabilities”, and “women with disabilities”. The general debate had around 50 States inscribed for the speakers' list, including several at ministerial levels. During the Conference, 34 side-events were organized by Governments, UN system organizations, academic institutions, international and bi-lateral development agencies, and national human rights institutions, as well as non-governmental organizations and organizations of persons with disabilities. A number of features, such as official documentation in Braille, a PaperSmart portal for documents and statements, real time CART transcription (closed captioning), sign language interpretation and webcasting were included at the Conference, with a view to promoting and facilitating the broadest participation. The Enable Daily Bulletin from the Conference was disseminated at the end of each day of the Conference. Highlights and news about the Conference was also broadcast through social networking media including Facebook and Twitter, via live-feed from the Conference floor. A day prior to the Conference a Civil Society Forum was organized by the International Disability Alliance with the support of DESA. The Conference of State Parties continues to grow as one of the largest and key global forums on disability. With a view to improve the experience of Conference attendees, if you have attended this year’s Conference, please fill out our brief online survey at: . The final report of the Conference will be posted, shortly. More information: .

New Enable Map of Ratifications now available

The Map of Ratifications and Signatures, a much visited resource on the United Nations Enable website since 2007, has now been officially prepared and updated by the UN Cartographic Section: Enable map: . The map is colour coded to show ratifications and signatures of the Convention and its Optional Protocol. The detailed accessible list of ratifications and signatures is also available on the Enable website at: . As the Map is copyrighted by the United Nations, permission to use the Map in any publication should be made through the UN Cartographic Section. More information: .

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE UN SYSTEM

67th Session of the General Assembly begins

On 25 September, the 67th session of the General Assembly opened. The Third Committee of the Assembly is currently addressing disability among the issues on its agenda. The Committee has before it two disability-related reports of the Secretary-General: “Realization of the Millennium Development Goals and internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities: a disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond” (A/67/211) and “Status of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol thereto” (A/67/281). In the coming weeks, the Committee will work on two resolutions “Realizing the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities” and “Addressing Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) for prevention, Treatment and Rehabilitation of the victims and their families and societies” with the possibility of a third resolution related to the CRPD.

High-level Meeting on Disability and Development (23 September 2013)

The Governments of Philippines and Spain, co-facilitators of the 2013 General Assembly High-level Meeting on Disability and Development, convened two initial informal meetings on 10 and 14 September at UN Headquarters to provide an opportunity for an open exchange by all stakeholders in preparation for the high-level meeting and its outcome document. Government delegations, representatives of UN system organizations and civil society organizations participated in the meetings. The HLMDD is expected to produce a concise, action-oriented outcome document in support of the aims of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities. Prior to the convening of the HLMDD in September 2013, a draft text of the outcome document will be produced by the President of the General Assembly in consultation with Member States, along with input from organizations of persons with disabilities through informal consultations. More information: hlmdd2013.

International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December 2012

Are you preparing to commemorate and celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on 3 December 2012? The theme of this year's commemoration is: "Removing barriers to create an inclusive and accessible society for all". Barriers can take a variety of forms, including those relating to the physical environment or to information and communications technology (ICT), or those resulting from legislation or policy, or from societal attitudes or discrimination. Choose your own sub-theme, so as to address a specific issue of exclusion and accessibility in your community such as education, employment, housing, ICT, transportation, travel and tourism or sports. Let us know about it and we will showcase your idea and activity on our website so as to inspire others to do the same. Also, the United Nations Enable Film Festival will be held at UN Headquarters as a part of the commemorative activities for the Day. Send us your disability-related films. During the event at UN Headquarters, it is expected that the Working Group on preparations for the High-level Meeting on Disability and Development in 2013, will be launched. More information: .

OHCHR – 8th session: Committee on the rights of persons with disabilities

The 8th session of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities took place in Geneva from 17 to 28 September 2012. The Committee considered the initial reports of China, Argentina and Hungary and adopted concluding observations on each of these reports. It also adopted list of issues in relation to the initial report of Paraguay. The 9th session of the Committee will be held in April, 2013. The Committee will consider the initial report of Paraguay, adopt list of issues with regard to three countries and hold a half day of general discussion on women and girls with disabilities. More information: .

UNIC Moscow - Forum on disability inclusion and technology

On 2-3 October, over 150 participants attended a forum in Moscow entitled: "Inclusion of persons with disabilities in society: practices and technologies” organized by “Perspectiva”, a leading pro-disability civil society organization in Russia. Disability rights advocates, experts, journalists and aid agencies from around Russia met in Moscow along with Artiom Shadrin, Head of the Department of Strategic Management and Budgeting at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, who opened the meeting. He addressed areas of opportunity and need where an increase in joint efforts would help make a difference. He discussed recent governmental efforts to positively impact the lives and well-being of Russians with disabilities, including Government grants. The UNIC Director, Alexandre Gorelik, also spoke at the meeting and noted the UN Country Team’s efforts, as well as the work of the Group of Friends of the Convention, an informal body regularly convening at the UNIC Moscow with a focus on information and communication technologies and persons with disabilities. He commended the UN Country Team’s recent translation into Russian and publication of the international report “Making Mobile Phones and Services Accessible for Persons with Disabilities”. More information: .

ESCAP – Moving forward the disability agenda in Asia and the Pacific

Building a more disability-inclusive society is a challenge that countries in the Asia-Pacific region will address at the forthcoming High-level Intergovernmental Meeting on the Final Review of the Implementation of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012. The meeting will be convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in Incheon, Republic of Korea, from 29 October to 2 November 2012. An estimated 15% of the population, or 650 million persons with disabilities, live in the Asian and Pacific region. The majority of these persons live in poverty and suffer discrimination, exclusion, inequality and prejudice. The Meeting will be attended by Ministers and senior officials of Governments, as well as civil society leaders from across Asia and the Pacific. The Meeting will consider measures to empower persons with disabilities and promote greater equality, particularly through the implementation of the CRPD. More information: .

ESCWA – Capacity-building for CRPD implementation in the Arab region

As many Arab States have ratified the CRPD, they are required to periodically report on their achievements and on actions taken to implement the Convention. The League of Arab States along with the support of the Economic and social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), OHCHR and the Government of the United Arab Emirates will conduct a training workshop from 9-11 October on national reporting on the rights of persons with disabilities in light of the CRPD. The workshop will help familiarize participants with the obligations required under the CRPD and its Optional Protocol, and guide them in establishing a national committee to monitor and follow up on the implementation of the Convention, as well as help in the formation of a similar Arab Committee. It also aims to provide participants with the mechanisms/criteria needed to prepare national reports, and train them in related scientific methodology in monitoring and report-writing. More information: .

ESCWA – Developing information and statistics on disability in Jordan

The ESCWA Social Policy Section and Statistics Division will embark on a Technical Advisory Mission from 15 to 17 October in Jordan. The Government of Jordan requested the support of the Division with a view to help develop information/statistics about disability, developing disability indicators, and integrating these indicators in surveys and the national population census.

UNICEF – Forum on the Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities

UNICEF hosted this first-ever Forum: “Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities” at its Headquarters in New York on 14-15 September. Two hundred and forty participants representing more than 100 organizations from around the world participated in discussions to prioritize the rights and needs of children with disabilities in development efforts. The Forum included youth representatives and participants from Governments, UN agencies, and more than 100 NGO disability and human rights advocacy groups. It included a high-level panel discussion on how to realize equity and inclusion for children with disabilities in the post-2015 development agenda, as the target date for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is fast approaching. During the Forum partners identified concrete strategies to include disability on global agendas, in areas such as education, nutrition, and humanitarian action. More information: .

ITU – Improving mobile accessibility for persons with disabilities

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the Global Initiative for Inclusive ICTs (G3ict) published their latest report entitled: “Making Mobile Phones and Services Accessible for Persons with Disabilities” on 12 September 2012 at this year’s session of the Conference on States Parties and ITU-D Study Group Question 20-1/1 on Persons with Disabilities.  Despite the unprecedented rise in mobile phone subscriptions, senior citizens, people living with disabilities and the illiterate are often marginalized from the “mobile miracle” because devices are not equipped with the right accessibility features, or because the price of accessible mobile phones and services is prohibitive.  Examples of pioneering solutions are highlighted in the report, as well as the role of the private sector and regulatory and policy measures to ensure that the accessibility needs of all people are met. The report will be further discussed in the ITU Global Symposium for Regulators on 3 October in Colombo, Sri Lanka and at TELECOM 2012 on 16 October in Dubai. A free download of the report is available at: .

UPCOMING EVENTS IN 2012

(We welcome information from the general public on major international disability events for possible inclusion in the list below.)

10 October: World Mental Health Day

World Mental Health Day raises public awareness about mental health issues. The day promotes open discussion of mental disorders, and investments in prevention, promotion and treatment services. The treatment gap for mental, neurological and substance use disorders is formidable especially in resource-poor countries. More information: .

23 to 25 October: 12th meeting of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics

The meeting of the Washington Group (WG) will be held at UNCC in Bangkok and hosted by the UN ESCAP. The meeting will discuss: i) the results from further analysis of data collected from countries using the WG short measure questions, and country experiences; ii) additional work on extended set on functioning; iii) methodological issues facing the WG including the development of questions for children, and the issue of designing questions for the measurement of environmental barriers and participation; iv) summary of the country reports, and an update on other Washington Group and collaborative activities; v) WG governance issues; vi) objectives of the 13th meeting; and vii) next steps. More information:

25 to 28 October: Inclusion International Conference

The Inclusion International Conference will be held in Washington, DC, where participants will discuss the implications of Article 19 of the CRPD: Living independently and being included in the community. Inclusion International’s two-year Campaign to promote Article19 will culminate at this Conference with the launch of a global report. More information: and .

29 October to 2 November: Rehabilitation International World Congress

The Rehabilitation International (RI) World Congress, held every four years, seeks to provide a forum for the exchange of experience and information on research and practice regarding various disability issues on international and regional levels to promote the implementation of the CRPD. More information: .

6 to 9 November: CUBAMOTRICIDAD 2012 and parallel events

Cuba’s National Institute of Sports, Physical Education and Recreation (INDER) will convene the CUBAMOTRICIDAD 2012, to be held at Havana’s International Conference Center. Three parallel events will also be conducted (in English and Spanish): Second World Forum on Physical Education and School Sport, Third Ibero-American and Caribbean Summit of Physical Education and School Sport, and Third World Biennial of Stimulation, Education and Children Development. More information: .

8 to 18 November: WBU/ICEVI General Assemblies

World Blind Union (WBU) and International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) will convene joint General Assemblies and associated events in Bangkok, Thailand. Events include: African Union of the Blind General Assembly, WBU Diversity Forum, WBU General Assembly, ICEVI General Assembly and events, and joint programme days between WBU and ICEVI. More information: .

15 to 17 November: Seventh International Congress on the Formation of teaching staff of Primary School Education

The Assocation for Research on Children and Pre-School Education (Asociación para la Investigación en la Educación Infantil y Preescolar A.C.) is convoking the Congress, titled: “Toward the Challenge of Inclusive Education: Equity for Diversity”, to be held in Guadalajara, México. School administrators and teachers, advisers, supervisors, interdisciplinary teams and all others education practitioners and institutions are invited to register before October 15th to showcase and see other innovative and successful practices in inclusive education. More information: .

26 to 28 November: 1st CBR World Congress

The first Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) World Congress entitled: “CBR: The Key to Realising CRPD” will be held in Agra, India. More information: or .

4 to 5 December: International Congress on Social Diversity

The event will be held at the School of Economics and Business Sciences of the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain and include disability as a key theme. More information: .

UPCOMING EVENTS IN 2013

23 September 2013: High-level meeting on disability and development

(See item above).

16 to 18 October: 2nd International Conference of the WFD

The 2nd Conference of the World Federation of the Deaf (WD) will be held in Sydney, Australia under the theme: “Equality for Deaf People”. More information: .

OTHER NEWS

(DISCLAIMER: The information below is provided by civil society organizations and others for informational purposes only. This does not constitute endorsement of, or an approval by, the United Nations of any of the products, services, or opinions of the organization or individual. The United Nations bears no responsibility for the accuracy, legality or content of their statements and opinions.)

DPI works to build the capacity of DPO leaders in Bangladesh

Disabled People's International (DPI) supported by ADD Bangladesh in conducting a workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 28 to 30 September 2012. Around 40 disability-sector leaders from across the country and various DPOs participated in this workshop. The objective of the workshop was to facilitate Bangladeshi DPOs to understand Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and motivate them to submit a Stakeholder's Report on disability to OHCHR for Bangladesh's upcoming UPR. The workshop also focused on CRPD and other human rights tools and mechanisms that facilitate and promote disability rights. More information: .  

IDDC high-level event at 2012 European Development Days

As part of its "Making Development Inclusive: Mainstreaming event series", IDDC will co-organize a high-level panel entitled: "Making Finance Work for Inclusive Development at this year's European Development Days in Brussels on 17 October. The event will be jointly organized along with the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP), United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF), and International Finance Corporation (IFC) from the World Bank group. The panel will showcase how finance can work for inclusive development, highlighting innovative approaches to tackling the needs of financially excluded households, entrepreneurs, and vulnerable groups such as persons with disabilities. More information: .

Outcome documents of the 11th World Down Syndrome Congress

The 11th World Down Syndrome Congress (WDSC 2012) was held in Cape Town, South Africa from 14-18 August 2012. The theme of the Congress was the “BIG FIVE” – Rights, health, social participation, education and employment. Read the resolutions and declaration by persons with Down syndrome at: . The 12th World Down Syndrome Congress will be held in Chennai, India, in 2015.

New guide on paratransit for mobility-impaired persons in developing regions

Access Exchange International has prepared a new guide entitled: "Paratransit for mobility-impaired persons in developing regions: Starting up and scaling up". The guide will assist practitioners around the world, especially in developing countries, to initiate or expand paratransit services that include persons with disabilities and seniors. This practical guide is results-oriented and works to help mobility-impaired persons to get to where they need to go. Download the guide at: .

Publication on corporal punishment of children with disabilities

Children with disabilities are especially vulnerable to corporal punishment in the home, at school, in institutional settings and elsewhere. Like other children, they have an absolute right to protection from all corporal punishment in law and practice. A briefing from the Global Initiative to End All Corporal Punishment of Children highlights the importance of prohibiting corporal punishment for children with disabilities, summarises research on the topic and urges those working for the rights of people with disabilities to incorporate the issue into their work. Download the briefing note at: . More information: elinor@, or visit .

HRW report on abuses against persons with mental disabilities in Ghana

Human Rights Watch has just released it report entitled: “"Like a Death Sentence": Abuses against Persons with Mental Disabilities in Ghana”. The report notes that most persons with mental disabilities in Ghana have little access to mental health care or other support services. Those who receive treatment often do so without their consent, in overcrowded and abusive public psychiatric hospitals and prayer camps, which are spiritual healing centers run by a church. The lack of proper community support systems makes it so that those living outside of psychiatric hospitals or prayer camps cannot access medication, struggle to find food and other necessities of life, and are subjected to daily stigma and discrimination. More information: . HRW also released a brochure during the fifth Conference of States Parties that highlights several important human rights issues that women and children with disabilities face, from violence in schools and in their communities, to abuses in institutions and lack of access to education. The brochure highlights stories of persons with disabilities themselves as they seek justice for these abuses.

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Mobile and web accessibility

The W3C Web Accessibility initiative (WAI) has published updated documents related to mobile accessibility. The resources cover how mobile web accessibility is addressed in existing W3C standards/guidelines, and how the overlap between mobile web design/development and accessibility strengthens the business case for web accessibility: Mobile Accessibility – A Summary: . Web Content Accessibility and Mobile Web: Making a Website Accessible Both for People with Disabilities and for Mobile Devices: . Shared Web Experiences: Barriers Common to Mobile Device Users and People with Disabilities: .

 

CONTACT INFORMATION

Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Division for Social Policy and Development (DSPD)

United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA)

2 UN Plaza, DC2-1306, New York, NY 10017, USA.

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