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Seminar on Accessibility
for All : Statements :
Opening remarks at the
United Nations Seminar on "Internet Accessibility for All"
H.E. Mr. Felipe H. Mabilangan,
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,
Permanent Representative of the
Republic of the Philippines
Thursday, 6 May 1999 (15h00 - 17h30)
Welcoming remarks
May I extend a warm welcome to everyone to our seminar this afternoon. We
have a full agenda on a topic that is of great interest to our countries. I
thank the Secretariat - the Division for Social Policy and Development and the
Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination - for their initiative in
organising the seminar in co-operation with this distinguished panel of
international specialists from the academic, policy research and information
technology fields.
I would like to recall that when member States adopted General Assembly
resolution 52/82, in 1997, on "Implementation of the World Programme of
Action concerning Disabled Persons; towards a society for all in the
twenty-first century", they identified accessibility as the first
priority for action to further equalisation of opportunities for persons with
disabilities.
Accessibility is a fundamental precondition for full participation and
equality in social life and development. This brief re-statement of the
development goal of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons
also represents one of the basic development concerns of recent global
development conferences. Thus, while our seminar today is focussing on Internet
accessibility by, for and with persons with disabilities, its findings are
applicable to society as a whole; hence, the title chosen for today's seminar -
"Internet accessibility for all".
Our 6 May seminar represents the second in the series of technical exchanges
and training activities on Internet accessibility and persons with
disabilities that the Division for Social Policy and Development has
organised over the past year-and-a-half. I am advised that the first training
activity took as its point of departure the role of international information
policies and their implications for information structures and technologies that
promote a society for all. One lesson of the exchange was a need for a clear and
distinct commitment to accessible information and telecommunications services,
which would beg the question of "reasonable level of accommodation". I would
appreciate the views of our distinguished panel as well as seminar participants
on this point.
As a result of that exchange, and the views and experiences contributed by
countries and the specialised constituencies for the work of the United Nations
in the economic and social fields, the need for training and technical exchanges
on policy analysis, strategic planning and practical methods and procedures to
design, implement and evaluate accessible Internet-based services was
identified. The current seminar began with a training workshop for United
Nations staff on "Internet accessibility" in mid-December of last year and has
achieved an international following - thanks to Internet technologies - among
participants that include staff members of the United Nations Secretariat,
academics and representatives of non-governmental organisations in Asia, Europe
and Latin America.
Purpose of the Seminar
Our seminar today aims to provide a forum for an exchange of views and
experiences on the role of information technology, the World Wide Web of the
Internet in particular, in promoting and supporting full participation in social
life and development, and equality for persons with disabilities.
However, our main concern should be forward-looking, with a focus on
implications of the rapid changes occurring in international information
policies, structures and technologies for promoting and developing accessible
information services for all in countries.
Of particular interest to my Government are lessons that we can gain from
this exchange to strengthen our own policy processes, to build our technical and
managerial capacities to plan, design and develop cost-effective and
locally-appropriate accessible information services and to facilitate
involvement of civil society in these processes.
Seminar programme
We have a full programme today. Presentations will be made by a distinguished
group of international experts. They will examine four key dimensions of
Internet accessibility: the role of international norms, standards and policies,
trends in information technologies, the role of Internet in promoting
international exchanges and distance collaboration, and issues in planning,
design and management of sustainable and cost-effective Internet accessibility.
We also shall have presentations on international policy processes and their
implications for Internet accessibility for all. I am pleased that Mr. John
Langmore, director of the Division for Social Policy and Development, and Mr.
Sarbuland Khan, director of the Division for ECOSOC Support and Coordination,
will comment on this important issue.
May I make a final observation on the role of technology, such as the
Internet, in the social and economic development of our countries. Earlier this
year, at the thirty-seventh session of the Commission for Social Development,
the Philippines delegation, and the delegation of Indonesia, remarked about the
way in which Internet accessibility offers the potential to bring persons with
disabilities into the mainstream and provide them with a strong tool for
participation in social life and development.
In our statement, the representative of the Philippines further made a
request for "assistance from the Secretariat on a regional or sub-regional
workshop on this subject". I am pleased to inform all of you about the very good
progress that we are making in follow up to that request in cooperation with the
concerned officers of the Secretariat. I am advised by my capital that the ASEAN
secretariat will be making a detailed request for advice and assistance of the
United Nations concerning an "ASEAN Seminar on Internet Accessibility and
Persons with Disabilities".
My friends, I look forward to our discussions today as part of the growing
dialogue on the political economy of disability. I trust that the conclusions
that emerge from our exchange not only will enrich the global body of knowledge
on disability-sensitive policy design and programme planning but will also be
useful to preparations for our forthcoming ASEAN Seminar on Internet
Accessibility.
Thank you.
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