-----Original Message----- From: Dspd Enable [mailto:ena...@un.org] Sent: Thursday, May 06, 2010 6:47 PM To: enab...@un.org Subject: United Nations Enable Newsletter, April 2010 ENABLE NEWSLETTER April 2010 The Enable Newsletter is prepared by the United Nations Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (SCRPD) at the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA). Input has been received from by UN offices, agencies, funds and programmes, as well as from civil society. It is also available on-line at: http://www.un.org/disabilities. In this issue: § Update on the Convention § Highlights § Upcoming events § Other news ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE ON THE CONVENTION (CRPD) 85 ratifications of the Convention 144 signatories to the Convention Optional Protocol to the Convention 52 ratifications of the Optional Protocol 88 signatories to the Optional Protocol Recent news: Maldives ratified the Convention on 5 April Third Conference of States Parties, 1-3 September 2010 The third Conference of States Parties to the Convention (CoSP) will be held from 1-3 September 2010 at UNHQ in New York. This session, under the theme: “Implementing the Convention through Advancing Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities”, will begin with the election of members of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and include substantive roundtable discussions and an interactive informal session with civil society. Elections for members of the Committee will be held in accordance with article 34 of the Convention. As the total number of ratifications has passed 80, the membership of the Committee will increase by six to a total of 18 members. Additional elections will be held for the six members whose term expires in 2010. More information and a provisional agenda will be available shortly at http://www.un.org/disabilities. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HIGHLIGHTS SCRPD/DESA 5th meeting of the Interagency Support Group on the CRPD, 6-7 May 2010 The fifth meeting of the Interagency Support Group on the CRPD (IASG) will take place on 6-7 May hosted by World Bank at their Headquarters in Washington, DC. Members of the IASG will present their current work and review modalities for increased cooperation, as well as discuss emerging good practices, international development cooperation, challenges and opportunities to support the implementation of the Convention. The group will also discuss strategies for working with UN country teams on disability issues. Members of civil society will also attend and present their work on the implementation of the Convention and participate in a forum with UN agencies. More information: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?navid=40&pid=323. Expert group meeting on accessibility SCRPD in collaboration with the World Bank is organizing an expert group meeting on accessibility from 9-11 June 2010 (venue TBC). The experts will review current standards and practices on accessibility and work to develop practical guidelines for disability-inclusive policy frameworks to ensure environmental accessibility for persons with disabilities, with reasonable adaptation, in both the physical environment and in the fields of information and communication technologies. With a view to foster the building of an international community of experts on all aspects of accessibility, SCRPD is calling for experts to email the details of their expertise and contact information, so as to establish a global network of experts. More information will be posted shortly at http://www.un.org/disabilities. Disability workshop at Annual Pacific Rim International Conference SCRPD made a key-note presentation entitled "Development for All: Inclusive Policies, Programs, and Participation in the Millennium Development Goals at the Plenary Session of the International Forum on the Rights of People with Disabilities: Utilizing the Convention to Mobilize for Action". SCRPD co-organized an interactive panel in collaboration with Harvard Disability Law Project and the Pacific Forum Secretariat, as well as a workshop on disability, MDGs and gender to support regional capacity-building for mainstreaming disability in development. The Forum was held in conjunction with the 26th Annual Pacific Rim International Conference on 12-13 April in Honolulu, Hawaii. More information: http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu. Disability and ageing publication – Call for papers The SCRPD and the UN Programme on Ageing are supporting the development of a publication on disability and ageing. The publication, scheduled to be launched in December 2010, will be published by the NGO Committee on Ageing/NY in memory of the late Ruth Begun, a long time member of the NGO Committee on Ageing/NY. Currently, papers are being sought for inclusion in the publication, which will focus on: similarities and differences in the impact of disability on younger an older persons; disability, ageing and poverty; design for disability (rural/urban design, home/community design; affects in later years of acquired v/s born-with disability; the impact of vision, hearing and/or mobility loss on older persons; and access to assistance/services for disabled older persons in developing countries. The length of the paper should not exceed 6-8 pages (single-spaced) and not have been published previously. Priority will be given to papers based on research and good practice. Papers should include a statement of the issue, research findings or practice applications and recommendations. Deadline for submission: 30 September 2010. For more information, please contact the NGO Committee on Ageing Proposal Contact Information: Jessica Frank Lopez, Chair, Tel: (212)407-3710 or E-mail: jefr...@aarp.org or Florence L. Denmark, Tel: (212)346-1551 or E-mail: fdenm...@pace.edu or Mary J. Mayer, Tel: (212)876-2131 or E-mail: mjmayer_...@hotmail.com. OHCHR New publication on providing guidance to human rights monitors OHCHR has published a new tool: "Monitoring the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Guidance for Human Rights Monitors”. The objective of this publication is to provide background information on the CRPD, its provisions and monitoring mechanisms. The tool will outline principle issues arising in the monitoring of the CRPD, such as the inclusion of persons with disabilities in monitoring activities, ensuring accessibility and the monitoring of specific provisions. The publication, available in English and Russian, is aimed at actors already engaged in human rights monitoring such as UN human rights officers, national human rights institutions, and civil society. Download the publication at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/Disabilities_training_17EN.pdf. New resolution adopted by the HRC The Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted its resolution 13/11 entitled “Human rights of persons with disabilities: national implementation and monitoring and introducing as the theme for 2011 the role of international cooperation in support of national efforts for the realization of the rights of persons with disabilities”. The resolution calls upon States parties to the Convention to establish and strengthen domestic mechanisms and frameworks for the implementation and monitoring of the Convention, as well as include civil society organizations in the monitoring process of the Convention. The HRC also decided that its next annual interactive debate on the rights of persons with disabilities will focus on the role of international cooperation in support of national efforts to implement the Convention. More information: http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/resolutions/a_hrc_res_13_11.pdf. UN Millennium Campaign – Online consultation on MDGs The UN Millennium Campaign is conducting an online consultation until 7 May that will provide input into their report at the MDG review summit this September. The consultation provides an opportunity to call for disability-inclusive MDGs, for better implementation, evaluation and monitoring, as well as to highlight the need for indicators and data collection. Join the online consultation at: http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=cnmdg10. UNMAS – Disability survey extended to all DPKO operations The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) of Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) is the focal point of disability issues within DPKO. UNMAS is currently circulating a disability survey to all peacekeeping operations in the field. In August 2009, UNMAS developed the disability survey, which was circulated to ten UNMAS managed field programmes. Findings from the survey were presented at the Fourth Interagency Support Group (IASG) for the CRPD meeting in November 2009. The survey helps identify the extent to which the issue of accessibility and employment of persons with disabilities has been addressed by mine action centres. More information: Akiko Ikeda-Wei, ik...@un.org. WHO - 2nd CBR Continental Congress On 3-5 March, the 2nd Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) Continental Congress was held in Oaxaca, Mexico. The Congress was jointly organized by the Pan American Health Organization, the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF, the Community-based Rehabilitation Network of the Americas and the Caribbean, the National Agency for Family Development (DIF), Consejo Nacional para las Personas con Discapacidad (CONADIS), Piña Palmera, CBM and the Oaxaca local government. More than 550 participants from 17 Latin American countries took part in the Congress including many people with disabilities and their organizations. Participants developed the "Oaxaca Manifesto" which calls upon States to include people with disabilities in the development of their communities and societies by implementing the CRPD and promoting the use of CBR in public policies. The next Congress will take place in 2013 in Bogota, Colombia. The CBR America and Caribbean Network, formed following the last CBR Congress, will work towards implementation of the Manifesto. More information: Dr Armando Vasquez, vasqu...@chi.ops-oms.org or Mr Chapal Khasnabis, khasnab...@who.int. WHO - National strategy for persons with disabilities in Guyana On 10 March, Dr Bheri Ramsaran, Honourable Deputy Minister of Health, Government of Guyana launched the National Rehabilitation Services Strategy 2009-2013. The Strategy is the result of collaborative work of the Pan American Health Organization, WHO, the Guyana Ministry of Health and the Director of Rehabilitation Services. A seminar was organized to introduce the National Rehabilitation Services Strategy and to promote understanding about community-based rehabilitation. Dr. Kathleen Israel, PAHO/WHO Representative, who inaugurated the seminar, highlighted the importance of rehabilitation services and assured continued support to transform the strategy from a plan into concrete interventions that will change the status quo and result in real and meaningful improvement in the lives of persons with disabilities in Guyana. More information: Dr. Javier Uribe, uribe...@guy.paho.org, Dr Armando Vasquez, vasqu...@chi.ops-oms.org, or Mr Chapal Khasnabis, khasnab...@who.int. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- UPCOMING EVENTS 6-7 May: 5th Interagency Support Group on the CRPD meeting (See above) 13 - 16 May: CODHy World Congress The 3rd World Congress on Controversies to Consensus in Diabetes, Obesity and Hypertension (CODHy) will take place in Prague, Czech Republic. The Congress is a comprehensive meeting fully devoted to clinical debates and covering controversial issues in a wide spectrum of diabetes, obesity and hypertension. More information: http://www.comtecmed.com/codhy/2010/ 23 - 27 May: 17th ESPRM Congress The 17th European Society of Physical and Rehabilitation and Medicine (ESPRM) Congress “European Rehabilitation: Quality, Evidence, Efficacy and Effectiveness” will be held in Venice, Italy. The meeting will cover functioning biology, functioning technology, clinical sciences, human functioning sciences, evidence-based rehabilitation and management. More information: http://www.cesprm2010.eu/index.html. 1 - 4 June: TRANSED 2010 The 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons, “Transed2010”, will take place in Hong Kong, China. The main theme of the Conference is “Sustainable Transport and Travel for All”. More information: http://www.transed2010.hk. 6–12 June: 2010 International VSA Festival VSA, the international organization on arts and disability, will bring together artists, educators, researchers, and policymakers with and without disabilities from around the world for a multicultural celebration of the arts and arts education. The Festival will feature visual, performing, literary, and media artists and over 2,000 participants from around the world. The festival will also include the 2010 International VSA Education Conference on Advancing Inclusive Education and 21st Century Learning Skills through the Arts and a Pathways to Employment for artists with disabilities. More information: http://www.vsartsfestival.org. 14-15 June: Interactive Hearings on the UN MDG Summit, UNHQ The interactive hearing will provide civil society organisations with an opportunity to share their expertise and innovative ideas with policy-makers at the local, national and international level. More information: http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=mdg2010. 18-22 July: 21st International Congress on Education of the Deaf The 21st International Congress on Education of the Deaf (ICED) will take place in Vancouver, Canada. The Congress themed "Partners In Education”, will look at past achievements in education of the Deaf, recent research and established best practices. More information: http://www.iced2010.com/ 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. See Disability Zone, below. More information: http://www.aids2010.org. 1 - 3 September: Third Conference of States Parties to the CRPD (See above) 15-17 September: Implementing disability-inclusive development in the Pacific and Asia: Reviewing progress, planning the future An international conference and action planning roundtable will be held in Darwin, Australia and is organized by the ADDC - Australian Disability and Development Consortium. The Conference will discuss and review practical actions being taken in the Pacific and Asia to ensure that local, national and international development includes people with disability. The two-day conference and one-day action-based roundtable seek practical ways for people with disabilities in the Asia Pacific region and Australian Aboriginal communities to best fulfill their human rights. More information: http://www.addc.org.au/2010/02/addc-conference-first-notice/ 17-19 September: Stand Up, Take Action: Make a Noise for the MDGs September 17th -19th, 2010: Around the world, people will participate in a wide range of events, relevant actions and initiatives to show their support for the achievement of the MDGs and have their voices heard articulating their demands for delegations attending the Summit. This global action is designed to grab public, political and media attention and to make sure that the global movement in support of the MDGs is seen and heard around the world. More information: http://www.endpoverty2015.org/en/stand-up. 20 - 22 September: Millennium Development Goals Summit Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on world leaders to attend the MDG High-level Summit that will be held this coming September in New York. The Summit aims to boost efforts to achieve the MDGs by 2015. More information: http://www.un-ngls.org/spip.php?page=article_s&id_article=1963. 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 in New 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. 22-24 October: First European Congress on Visual Impairment The first European Congress on Visual Impairment will be held in Valladolid, Spain and will cover the prevention of visual impairments and rehabilitation. More information: http://www.eventoplenos.com/eurovision_eng/02%20Primer%20boletin%20eng.pdf and http://www.eventoplenos.com/eurovision/Pages_from_Memorando0.pdf. 26 - 29 October: 4th CBR Africa Conference The theme of this Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) Conference is ‘Linking CBR with Disability and Rehabilitation’ and will be held in Abuja, Nigeria. The conference aims to promote better CBR practices in Africa and provide an opportunity for people to share information, knowledge and experience on how disability concepts, CBR and rehabilitation programmes can link together to help improve the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families. More information: Joan Okune (j...@afri-can.org) or Sally Hartley (sa...@afri-can.org). 28-30 October 4th National Spinal Cord Injury Conference The Conference is organized by the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and will take place in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. It will include showcasing new research, clinical breakthroughs and innovative approaches and methodologies to addressing spinal cord injuries. More information: http://www.sciconference.ca. 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.) Newsletter of the International Disability Alliance April 2010 Find out more about the participation of civil society in the work on the implementation of the CRPD, as well as the work of the Human Rights Council and the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Download the latest issue at: http://www.internationaldisabilityalliance.org/advocacy-work/disability-rights-bulletin/ . International Diploma in Mental Health Law and Human Rights The International Diploma on Mental Health Law and Human Rights is currently accepting applications for the academic year 2010-11. The Diploma, now in its third year of existence, is a collaborative effort between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ILS Law College in Pune, India. The course builds the capacity of students to advocate for human rights and to influence national legislative and policy and service reform in line with the CRPD other key international human rights standards. The course is taught by a faculty of renowned international experts in the area and includes two residential sessions, as well as distance learning Deadline for application: 30 June 2010. More information: http://www.mentalhealthlaw.in. International Masters degree in mental health policy and services Applications are being accepted for 2010/2011 for the International Masters Degree in Mental Health Policy and Services (MHPS), promoted by the New University of Lisbon, in collaboration with WHO. The scope of the Masters is to build capacity of mental health professionals to lead and contribute to conceiving, formulating, implementing and evaluating national mental health policy, national mental health legislation and mental health services and care delivery. More information: http://www.fcm.unl.pt/immhps/ . Online summer course on disability awareness This online course challenges the current perceptions about disability and persons with disabilities. Students in this online course will view and respond to a series of films about disability and challenge their own assumptions about disability, deepen their historical understanding of the ways in which the "grammar" of film has shaped depictions of disability, and consider the ways in which these images may dialog with the ways we think about disability. This course is intended for students across disciplines, including social work, psychology, public health, law, nursing, political science, and especially education. It is presented in an online, asynchronous format designed to accommodate the schedules of working professionals. This course is available completely online and offered by the Center on Disability, University of Hawaii. More information: rraph...@hawaii.edu or visit http://www.cds.hawaii.edu/main/ads/certificateprogram/ Disability Zone at International AIDS Conference in Vienna The International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC) task team on disability and HIV has organized a Disability Zone at the XVIII International AIDS Conference in Vienna this year. Grassroots DPOs, NGOs, faith-based organizations, networks, researchers, institutions and other organizations and leaders in the field of disability and HIV are encouraged to participate. In the Zone, people with disabilities, people living with HIV, researchers, donors and conference attendees can come together to share experiences, learn from each other and raise awareness of the interrelations between disability and HIV. More information: hanas...@ukzn.ac.za at www.heard.org.za/african-leadership/disability. Distance learning courses in CBR Bangalore University has launched new courses since 2005 in the field of disability and rehabilitation. The Directorate of Correspondence Courses & Distance Education in collaboration with CBR Network (South Asia) invites applications for Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) Courses for the Academic Year 2010-11 offered through distance mode. More information: cbr...@airtelmail.in. Report on the rights and reality of access to goods and services Leonard Cheshire Disability (LCD) has launched a new report that examines disabled people’s experiences of accessing goods and services, and examines the extent to which disabled people have been able to enforce their rights. The report is based on a survey of more than 1000 disabled people in the UK. More information: http://www.lcdisability.org/?lid=12274. School project help design a smarter walking stick Three teenage girls studying in a UN-funded school in a refugee camp in the West Bank have been chosen to join 1,500 finalists, Nobel Laureates and leading scientific minds in the world’s largest pre-college science fair where their prototype of an electric cane could win a $50,000 grand prize. The girls teamed up for a science project at UNRWA’s Askar Girls’ School in Nablus, north of Jerusalem, after seeing one of their visually impaired uncles struggle to walk on the region’s hilly terrain. While most electronic canes can tell what is in front, the girls devised a wooden walking stick that has a “seeing” sensor below – so it beeps when the surface changes, such as near stairs, holes or water, up to 30 inches away. More information: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34512&Cr=palestin&Cr1= --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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: UN Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2 UN Plaza, DC2-1306, New York, NY 10017, USA. Website: http://www.un.org/disabilities Email: ena...@un.org 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. 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