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The First Session of the Biwako Millennium Framework (BMF)
Stakeholders' Coordination Meeting |
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Reference Documents : UNITED NATIONS GENERAL Subcommittee on Socially Vulnerable Groups First session EMPOWERMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES(Item 6 of the provisional agenda) Note by the secretariat
CONTENTS I. OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT SITUATION
III. ESCAP ACTIVITIES DURING 2003 AND 2004
INTRODUCTION1. On 22 May 2002, the Commission adopted resolution 58/4 on promoting an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region in the twenty-first century, in which it proclaimed the extension of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, for another decade, 2003-2012. 2. In October 2002, the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Conclude the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, adopted the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific as the regional policy guideline for the new Decade. The Biwako Millennium Framework outlines issues, action plans and strategies towards an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for persons with disabilities. To achieve the goals, the Framework identified seven priority areas and four specific strategies for action. The Biwako Millennium Framework has already been translated into several national languages, such as Nepali and Japanese. 3. On 4 September 2003, members and associate members of ESCAP adopted resolution 59/3, entitled "Regional implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific during the Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012" to affirm their commitment. 4. As of 1 May 2004, 46 members and associate members of ESCAP have signed the Proclamation on the Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities in the Asian and Pacific Region. Since the Decade was renewed, three countries have signed the Proclamation: Papua New Guinea and Turkey in 2003 and Timor-Leste in January 2004. 5. The new Decade (2003-2012) must ensure a paradigm shift from a charity-based approach to a rights-based approach to protect the civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights of persons with disabilities. The Philippines has declared the period 2003-2012 the national Decade of Persons with Disabilities. Japan has adopted the third long-term "Fundamental Framework for Action during the New Decade of 2003-2012" with the mandate of achieving an inclusive society. To pursue the targets and strategies, the involvement of civil society, including self-help organizations and the NGOs concerned, is essential. 6. The Asian and Pacific Decades have influenced developments at the international level and have been replicated. The African Decade of Disabled Persons (2000-2009) was formally proclaimed in 2002, and the Arab Decade of Disabled Persons will be formally proclaimed at the Arab Summit during 2004. 7. At the global level, the year 2003 was historic, as after a 15-year struggle, the international community decided to elaborate a new comprehensive international convention on the promotion and protection of the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities. At the second session of the Ad Hoc Committee to consider proposals for an international convention, held from 16 to 27 June 2003 in New York, Member States agreed to start elaborating the convention, and a special working group was established with a mandate to develop the consolidated draft text of the Convention. Subsequently, the third and fourth sessions were held in 2004 in New York, and the drafting and negotiation process is ongoing. 8. The present paper summarizes the key achievements of the last Decade and the first year of the new Decade, and the challenges of the current Decade, as well as priority areas for further action during the remaining years. The focus of analysis is on progress at the national level, which may be used as a baseline for monitoring future progress, and the regional and interregional collaboration and networking. 9. The present paper also summarizes (a) the current status and socio-economic characteristics of persons with disabilities in the ESCAP region at the inception of the new Decade; (b) the seven priority areas for action and four strategies under the Biwako Millennium Framework; and (c) the immediate follow-up activities that ESCAP undertook in 2003 and those planned for 2004 or already undertaken. I. OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT SITUATION10. It is recognized that many gains have been achieved in creating awareness about the situation of persons with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region and the need to address the issues affecting their full participation and equality in the development process. There has been progress at the national and subregional levels, where a variety of measures for equalization are being implemented. These include legislation and national policy, promotion of barrier-free environments, community-based rehabilitation services, education, and training and employment. People with disabilities are increasingly active and vocal in contributing to the planning and implementation of programmes relating to such measures. 11. Despite these achievements, it may be argued that persons with disabilities remain the single-largest sector of those least served and most discriminated against in almost all societies in the region. 12. While an estimated 400 million persons with disabilities have the capacity to contribute to national development in the Asian and Pacific region and have increasingly become agents of change in their communities through their collective action, the majority of persons with disabilities (who account for 7-10 per cent of the total population) are still excluded from education, employment and other economic and social opportunities and constitute about 20 per cent of the poorest people. 13. Lack of adequate data has been one of the most significant factors leading to the neglect of disability issues, including the development of policies and measures to monitor programme implementation in the region. 14. There are a number of key areas that require ongoing critical action if the region is to satisfactorily achieve the inclusion of people with disabilities in society and in mainstream development programmes in order to reach the goal of full participation of people with disabilities. As poverty and social exclusion are closely linked, many of the people with disabilities, not surprisingly, are poor. For instance, in Sri Lanka, according to a national survey in 2003, about 90 per cent of physically disabled individuals in employment earn a household income of less than US$ 2 a day, which is far above the national average of 45 per cent. 15. The overwhelming majority of people with disabilities in the ESCAP region live in remote rural areas where the services they need are unavailable. Additionally, a major cause of poverty is the lack of productive employment. In Sri Lanka, only 1 per cent of adults with intellectual disability are employed. 16. People with disabilities remain disproportionately unemployed and underemployed. Efforts have been made in many parts of the ESCAP region to improve the labour force participation rate, but a major obstacle to gaining - and retaining - employment is lack of access to education and training. People with disabilities are confronted with social exclusion from their earliest years because of existing social and physical barriers. 17. Generally, the educational systems fail to offer any education to the majority of children with disabilities. Among those who do have access to education, few receive inclusive education in the mainstream school environment. Additionally, an increasingly important issue in this area that still has to be addressed is access by people with disabilities to new and emerging information technologies through computer literacy. 18. As lack of education is one of the main factors leading to social exclusion and poverty, this phenomenon will be followed by new emerging problems related to information, communication and technology development, globalization and poverty, including temporary poverty caused by structural adjustments. 19. It is hoped that the extension of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons for another 10 years will complete the achievement of the goal of achieving an inclusive and barrier-free society. II. SPECIFIC TARGETSA. Self-help organizations of persons with disabilities and related family and parents’ associations20. Governments in the ESCAP region are becoming increasingly supportive of self-help organizations and value the role that they play in advising Governments on disability concerns. Out of 37 countries that responded to an ESCAP survey in 2002, 24 had formed national cross-disability organizations of people with disabilities, or self-help organizations, and 4 were in the process of forming such groups. The World Blind Union and the World Federation of the Deaf have extensive networks of national organizations. 21. A total of 17 Governments have reported that input from self-help organizations had been fully integrated into national policy development. A total of 13 Governments provide funding assistance to strengthen and support the development of self-help organizations. The Philippines has mandated the allocation of 1 per cent of local governments’ total budget to disability-related services, which can be outsourced by self-help organizations and/or NGOs. The Philippines has a national forum of self-help organizations. In the Pacific island economies, the Oceania Subregional Office of Disabled Peoples’ International was formed in 2000 and provides support for many countries in the subregion. Disabled Peoples’ International Asia and Pacific region has a membership of 22 national assemblies of people with disabilities. These include six organizations from the Pacific island economies. 22. The lack of coordination of many disparate and often single-disability groups has weakened the capacity of self-help organizations to advocate their cause effectively. A situation of equal partnership and consultation between Governments and self-help organizations has not yet been achieved within the region, and progress towards it has been slow. The Biwako Millennium Framework affirms that persons with disabilities and their self-help organizations are best equipped and best informed to speak on their behalf and can contribute to solutions on issues that concern them. Actions for the targets include the participation of persons with disabilities in policy-making, political representation and capacity-building. B. Women with disabilities23. Some countries have developed gender-inclusive disability policies while others facilitate gender-sensitive data and the formation of networks of women with disabilities. These initiatives need to continue and expand if women with disabilities are to acquire the skills and confidence to advocate for the inclusion of their particular issues within self-help organizations of persons with disabilities, mainstream advocacy groups and the wider community. 24. Gender-inclusive disability policies were reported by Japan, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. Gender-sensitive data were reported by Pakistan. Bangladesh; Bhutan; Fiji; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; and the Philippines reported the formation of networks of women with disabilities. A regional network of women with disabilities was formed in Hanoi during Campaign 2001. 25. The Biwako Millennium Framework recognizes women with disabilities as multiply disadvantaged because they are women, because they have disabilities and because they are likely to be living in poverty. Three targets have been set to solve these problems: (a) By 2005, Governments should ensure anti-discrimination measures, where appropriate, to protect women with disabilities; (b) By 2005, self-help organizations should adopt policies to promote the full representation of women with disabilities; (c) By 2005, women with disabilities should be included in the membership of national mainstream women’s associations. C. Early detection, early intervention and education 26. Out of the 37 countries that responded to the survey, 25 have prevention strategies within overall health programmes, while comprehensive disability prevention programmes had been implemented in Bangladesh, China and India, among others. In China, nationwide prevention strategies target urban, rural and migrant communities. 27. A total of 29 countries out of the 37 provide for rehabilitation services and 22 have established community-based rehabilitation approaches. In one notable model in Bangladesh, three government departments work together with more than 100 NGOs and some organizations of people with disabilities to provide rehabilitation for people with disabilities within their community. Deliberate policy decisions have resulted in extensive delivery of community-based rehabilitation services in China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines and rapidly expanding services in Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. 28. There is some evidence that the situation is improving. Legislation mandating education for all children has been passed or is being planned by 20 Governments. However, only a few Governments provided for the inclusion of children with disabilities in national Education For All plans. The predominant form of access to education was through separate schools, but inclusive educational was increasing. A total of 27 Governments reported some access to regular schools for children and youth with disabilities. 29. It is roughly estimated that less than 10 per cent of children and youth with disabilities have access to any form of education, compared with an enrolment rate of over 70 per cent for non-disabled children and youth in primary education in the developing countries of the region. Even in high-income, high-human-resource Hong Kong, China, 37 per cent of disabled adults have either no education at all or only a kindergarten level of education. This exclusion from education for children and youth with disabilities results in exclusion from opportunity for further personal, social and vocational development. D. Access to built environments and public transport30. Some progress has been made in this area, with 24 Governments having adopted, or being in the progress of developing, legislation and standards on accessible environments and transport. Recently, the Department of Transportation and Communications in Manila began implementing a law to upgrade access features in public transit facilities. A total of 13 rapid transit stations in Manila have been upgraded with elevators and improved signage, with other regulations applying to air and maritime transport. 31. In Turkey, the City of Ankara now has up to 20 accessible buses, with 11,000 riders registered for disability discount passes. Istanbul has seven accessible buses. The Tenth International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled People was held in Hamamatsu, Japan, from 23 to 26 May 2004. 32. The inaccessibility of the built environment, including public transport systems, is still the major barrier for persons with disabilities. This problem will worsen as the number of older people with disabilities increases in the region. A new, inclusive, integral approach, "universal design", benefits all people in society, including older persons, pregnant women and young children, and its economic benefits have been proved; yet, too few substantive initiatives at the policy level have been taken. Three targets have been set to improve the situation:
E. Training and employment, including self-employment33. Of the 28 Governments that provide vocational training services, 5 are in the early stages of establishing such services. Nine countries are moving towards integrated provision of vocational training. Many strategies have been adopted to promote employment of people with disabilities. A total of 12 countries have implemented an employment quota system, with incentives and fines being used to ensure enforcement. In Japan, according to 2003 data, the public sector complied with its 2.1 per cent quota at the rate of 100 per cent; in contrast, less than half (45 per cent) of all companies in the private sector complied with the lower quota of 1.8 per cent. Other employment incentive strategies include job search agencies, employment placement and support centres, wage subsidies, job coaching, trial employment and industrial profiling. 34. Strategies to promote self-employment and income generation through small grant funding, microcredit and loans have been reported in a number of countries. Those countries and others reported a specific focus on employment of people with disabilities in rural areas. The Government of Japan has begun promoting employment for people with severe disabilities within the private sector. 35. Nevertheless, persons with disabilities remain disproportionately undereducated, untrained, unemployed, underemployed and poor. They have insufficient access to the mainstream labour market owing to social exclusion, lack of trained and competent staff and adequate training for independent workers. 36. By 2004, only 11 countries in the region had ratified the International Labour Organization Convention concerning Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (Disabled Persons), 1983. A target of the Biwako Millennium Framework is that, by 2012, at least 30 per cent of the signatories will have ratified the Convention. F. Access to information and communications, including information, communication and assistive technologies37. In terms of access to communication, there is wide use of Braille and sign language, with popular usage and access by hearing people in countries such as China and Thailand. National sign language dictionaries have been developed, and in 1999 sign language was declared the national language of deaf people in Thailand. 38. Overall, access to communications technology and computer literacy in the region is clearly limited and not available to the majority of people with disabilities, especially those living in rural areas or in urban poverty. In terms of accessible information and of services related to information and communication technology (ICT), much more needs to be done. Where related ICT legislation has been passed, it is often not enforced. 39. In the past 10 years, there has been much progress in ICT development in some countries of the region, and this creates many opportunities for people with disabilities in networking, solidarity, employment and independent living. 40. Advances in ICT have also widened the gap between privileged disabled persons and non-privileged ones, as well as persons with disabilities and the non-disabled. An inaccessible ICT and Internet infrastructure, as well as poor English language skills are characteristics of the digital divide. These problems are acute in rural areas. The multimedia environment and the widespread use of graphics-based electronic information are creating new barriers for people with visual disabilities. 41. Information from a disability survey in the Republic of Korea (among the most advanced ICT environments in the region) revealed that persons with disabilities had 75 per cent fewer opportunities to access the Internet than non-disabled persons. As a result, legislation was passed to implement measures to redress the imbalance in computer literacy between those with disabilities and those without. 42. Japan has issued information accessibility guidelines for Japanese personal computer manufacturers, thus involving the private sector as a partner. Accessibility was reported as an emerging concern in Hong Kong, China; Thailand; and Turkey, where free access to computers was made available. 43. The Disability Services Act (1993) of Australia makes it unlawful to provide any service, including online information, which results in functional limitation and exclusion of users with disabilities. Therefore, by the inception of the new Decade, many Australian public institutions, such as universities, had started using an international standard developed by the World Wide Web Consortium and widely accepted currently as the best practice for providing accessible information, even though the Consortium is not a legal body. 44. Indeed, access to communications technology and computer literacy has the capacity to transform the lives of persons with disabilities, greatly enhancing their capacity to pursue gainful livelihoods. G. Poverty alleviation through capacity-building, social security and sustainable livelihood programmes45. Increasingly, the link between poverty and disability and the unmet needs of the majority of disabled persons living in rural areas is being recognized. The capacities of persons with disabilities must be developed so that they may contribute to community-based solutions to the particular problems that they face. Governments need to ensure that vulnerable persons with disabilities are able to access health, education, training and employment services and are integrated into community development programmes. The low rates of access to appropriate education among children with disabilities and the high rates of unemployment among youth and adults with disabilities in rural areas both need urgent attention. 46. Persons with disabilities are the poorest of the poor. It is estimated that 160 million persons with disabilities in the region, over 40 per cent of the total, are living in poverty, unable to benefit from their socio-economic rights. It is also estimated that 70 to 80 per cent of people with disabilities in some countries of the region live below the national poverty line. In Sri Lanka, 98 per cent of deaf people who are employed earn less than US$ 2 a day, and 81 per cent earn less than US$ 1 a day, indicating their acute poverty. 47. Malnutrition in its various forms is a cause of disability as well as a contributory factor in other ailments that increase susceptibility to disabling diseases. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, there are currently 515 million Asians who are chronically undernourished, accounting for about two thirds of the world’s hungry people. Poverty and disability worsen each other when persons with disabilities are socially excluded and adequate social services are not provided. 48. The extra costs directly related to disability can be considerable. In India, a survey found that the direct cost of treatment and equipment varied from three days’ to two years’ income, with a mean of two months. 49. Governments should integrate disability dimensions into baseline data collection and analysis of the Millennium Development Goals and allocate a certain percentage of the total rural development/poverty alleviation funds to persons with disabilities. 50. One target is set: Governments should halve, between 1990 and 2015, the proportion of persons with disabilities whose income/consumption is less than one dollar a day. H. Disability statistics and research51. The establishment of national databases is essential to provide accurate information on people with disabilities and their situations, without which it is difficult to plan appropriate services and monitor progress towards the achievement of full participation and equality. 52. Many Governments have taken action to collect data on disabilities. Some countries have data collection include information on children with disabilities vis-à-vis education; others have a database focused on industrial profiles and job opportunities for people with disabilities. Some Governments have established databases to collect information on the users of various services available to people with disabilities. 53. In the Pacific island economies, comprehensive and specific disability surveys were undertaken in some areas, and further surveys are planned for others. The Republic of Korea has been conducting national surveys on disability every five years, the findings of which have supported policy changes to address disability issues. 54. According to an ESCAP survey conducted in September 2003, more than half of the 16 countries surveyed had collected some information on their disabled populations through a census. A total of 13 countries reported that they collected some information through either a survey specifically focused on health/disability or a multiple topic household survey. Almost all countries surveyed reported that they had some administrative registers that were used for various purposes. However, the definitions used are not necessarily identical among different data sources in the same countries. 55. Disability prevalence among the 16 countries surveyed, according to the un-standardized data, varied from less than 1 per cent to above 18 per cent, which is clearly epidemiologically implausible. The lack of knowledge and the use of inappropriate methods are undoubtedly the main reasons for this vast variation in reported disability prevalence among countries in the region. 56. Many problems in this area remain. Data collection is not transparent in some contexts; it does not reflect the full extent of disability and this renders comparison of data meaningless. These limitations are due in part to the conceptual framework adopted, the scope and coverage of the surveys undertaken and the definitions, classifications and methodology used. I. Rights-based legislation and national policy57. Out of the 37 Governments that responded to the ESCAP survey in October 2002, 13 had adopted comprehensive disability legislation, 9 Governments had reported that legislation was in preparation and 27 had enacted, or were in the process of revising, extensive additional specific legislation or regulations. In addition, measures for the enactment and enforcement of anti-discrimination legislation had been undertaken by a number of Governments. 58. Several good practices may be found in national laws, such as the Law of China on the Protection of Disabled Persons (1990), Thailand’s Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons Act of 1991, the Magna Carta for Disabled Persons in the Philippines and related national laws in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Viet Nam. In June 2003, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea adopted new legislation on the protection of persons with disabilities. The law includes rehabilitation, access to education, cultural life and employment of persons with disabilities, and as a strategy for action, the Central Guiding Body was established under the Cabinet. 59. The new Constitution of Timor-Leste, adopted in 2002, includes two specific articles that guarantee the rights of persons with disabilities and the application of constitutional rights to them on an equal basis. The new Constitution of Afghanistan includes several articles that guarantee the equal rights of martyrs and their widows and disabled persons general. Fiji’s Constitution has a few very proactive articles about the civil, political and accessibility rights of persons with disabilities. Domestically, the Fiji Human Rights Commission adopted the rights-based disability action plan in December 2002. Japan has already drafted a more rights-based amendment of the fundamental law for disabled persons, which is to be submitted in 2004 to the National Diet for approval. China has been very proactive in the global process of drafting the international convention. 60. Strategy 2 of the Biwako Millennium Framework calls for Governments to examine the adoption and implementation of non-discrimination policies. Strategy 3 draws attention to national human rights institutions as agencies for protecting disabled people’s rights. Strategy 4 calls for Governments to actively involve persons with disabilities in policy development. Strategy 5 calls for Governments to consider ratifying the core international human rights treaties. Strategy 6 calls for Governments to consider support for the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. Strategy 7 calls on Governments to include persons with disabilities and their organizations in their procedures at the national, regional and international levels, concerning the drafting and adoption of the proposed human rights convention on disability. A major challenge in this area is the establishment of stricter mechanisms for the enforcement of legislation and the application of penalties for non-compliance. 61. Regarding national disability policies, recently several countries adopted or revised a comprehensive national policy on disability. In 2003, the Cook Islands national policy on disability was adopted by its Cabinet. Since the new Decade began, the Government of Vanuatu has adopted a policy on disability and established a disability focal point in the Government. In 2003, Sri Lanka adopted a national policy on disability, to be implemented through the Ministry of Social Welfare and other ministries. In addition to its long-term national framework for the Decade, Japan further adopted a five-year national plan on disability for 2003-2008, under the theme of "promoting an inclusive and barrier-free society". The policy includes rights-based key strategies, such as promotion of independent community living, de-institutionalization, normalization and rehabilitation. All of these recently revised national policies introduced a clear paradigm shift to a rights-based approach to empowerment of persons with disabilities. III. ESCAP ACTIVITIES DURING 2003 AND 200462. Taking into consideration the above-mentioned conditions and targets, ESCAP has programmed well-focused activities, some of which were carried out in 2003 and others are to be undertaken during 2004 as described below. A. An international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities63. Globally, developments towards an international disability-specific convention have been accelerated during the last couple of years. 64. The General Assembly, by its resolution 56/168 of 19 December 2001, established the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. The first session of the Ad Hoc Committee was held in New York in 2002, and subsequently the General Assembly adopted resolution 57/229 of 18 December 2002, in which it invited, inter alia, the regional commissions, to make available to the Ad Hoc Committee suggestions and possible elements to be considered in proposals for a convention. 65. The Biwako Millennium Framework promotes the paradigm shift from a charity-based approach to a rights-based approach to disability and development, and incorporates disability concerns into national policies and programmes for the purpose of achieving the targets of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals. In addition, the Biwako Millennium Framework urges Governments to ratify core international human rights treaties, to support the elaboration of a proposed convention and to include persons with disabilities at every level of the elaborating process. 66. Pursuant to the above-mentioned resolutions and the Biwako Millennium Framework, ESCAP organized four workshops on the international convention in 2004. ESCAP held the Regional Workshop towards a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (14-17 October 2003, Bangkok) in order to contribute to the global process of elaborating a proposed convention. The Workshop was attended by representatives of Governments, non-governmental organizations, national human rights institutions and United Nations agencies. The Workshop developed a draft of the proposed convention, entitled "Bangkok Draft: Proposed Elements of a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities". 67. The Bangkok Draft served as one of the working documents at the Regional Seminar on an International Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (which was co-organized by ESCAP and the China Disabled Persons’ Federation and held in Beijing from 4 to 7 November 2003). A follow-up to the Regional Workshop, the Seminar adopted a policy-oriented regional consensus document entitled the "Beijing Declaration on Elaboration of an International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities". 68. At the first session of the Working Group of the Ad Hoc Committee, which was held in New York in January 2004, the Bangkok Draft served as a key input and was extensively quoted in the draft proposed by the Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee. Thus, the Bangkok Draft is an important regional contribution to the proposed international convention. B. Access to information and ICT69. In 2003, ESCAP and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability co-organized the Regional Workshop on Web-based Networking for people with disabilities. It was held at Bangkok from 21 July to 1 August 2003 and attended by some 30 participants from the region. The participants learned technical skills for making the web pages of their organizations accessible to blind users and other users with special needs. 70. From 2003, a fully accessible and non-handicapping web page on disability activities was made available, including information on a series of meetings or workshops organized by ESCAP on disability related matters. That enabled a wider range of end-users, including persons with visual impairment and other disabilities, to access the site. In 2004, a comprehensive study on the accessibility of the overall ESCAP web site was commissioned by the Information, Communication and Space Technology Division of ESCAP. The study was conducted by an external expert with the goal of improving the accessibility of the site. C. Women and disability71. Strengthening the capacity of women with disabilities and their organizations must be a priority if persons with disabilities are to take responsibility for their own development, in partnership with Governments and NGOs. 72. ESCAP has started to provide a good package of advocacy skills by organizing two training workshops targeting mainly women with disabilities. The agendas of the workshops covered the targets of the Biwako Millennium Framework and enhanced the understanding of the concept of gender mainstreaming among NGOs and self-help organizations of persons with disabilities so that participants would be familiar with and accept the Biwako Millennium Framework and be motivated to take the necessary action to achieve the goals of the Biwako Millennium Framework, particularly those related to women and disability. The recommendations from the two workshops were incorporated into the ESCAP regional workshop on the international convention (14-17 October 2003) and its outcome document, the Bangkok Draft. 73. To mainstream disability into gender activities, a group of disabled Thai women actively participated in the United Nations observance of International Women’s Day in March 2004. D. Access to built environments74. ESCAP and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability co-organized the Regional Training of Trainers Course on the Promotion of Non-handicapping Environments for Persons with Disabilities, held at Bangkok from 24 February to 11 March 2003. Around 30 participants from nine countries, including policy makers, architects, urban planners and persons with disabilities, attended the two-week training session. From 2004, the newly established Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability has become the organizer of the training course to make it sustainable. E. Poverty and disability75. ESCAP collaborated with the Colombo Plan Secretariat in organizing a training workshop on raising awareness and mainstreaming disability rights and concerns into national development. The workshop was held at Bangkok from 24 to 29 March 2003, and the training was specifically designed for public-sector officials in decision-making positions. 76. Some 20 participants from Colombo Plan member countries participated in the workshop, which included a field visit to a slum area of Bangkok and exposure to an interactive panel discussion by leading local disability advocates. The participants noted some recent improvements in mainstreaming disability issues into pro-poor development strategies and in formulating comprehensive development policies targeting persons with disabilities and their families at the national level. 77. One major follow-up activity (a workshop cum field visit on poverty alleviation among persons with disabilities) to this workshop is scheduled to be held in October 2004, in poverty-affected villages in Lanzhou, Gansu Province of China, to be co-organized by ESCAP and the China Disabled Persons Federation. F. Regional networking78. ESCAP organized biannual sessions of the Thematic Working Group on Disability-related Concerns. The seventh session was held at Bangkok on 1 and 2 December 2003. The Working Group’s primary objective is to sustain the momentum towards the fulfillment of the goals of the Biwako Millennium Framework in the new Decade. The membership has expanded to include 50 NGOs, some 15 government representatives and the Asian Development Bank. The Group had been active in setting targets for the final period of the first Decade and in reviewing the achievements in the implementation of the Agenda for Action. 79. The Working Group was instrumental in advocating for the extension of the Decade to 2012. Members actively assisted ESCAP in drafting the Biwako Millennium Framework. Several task forces have been formed to promote advocacy and action in fulfillment of the particular targets of the Biwako Millennium Framework in such areas as Education For All, including children with disabilities; employment and training; access to information and ICT; emerging issues in Timor-Leste and Afghanistan; an international convention; women and disability; and self-help organizations. These task forces have been very effective in raising awareness of the need to include children with disabilities in national education, promoting the inclusion of the concerns of persons with disabilities in regional ICT meetings, and coordinating and facilitating external funding for concrete projects, such as a project to support a national survey and disability awareness in Timor-Leste. ESCAP is organizing two sessions of Working Group in 2004. 80. During the previous Decade, annual regional disability campaigns were held in various countries to raise public awareness of, and to mobilize support for, the Decade goals of full participation and equality of persons with disabilities. The annual campaigns provided a platform for persons with disabilities as well as non-disabled participants from the region to network and share experiences, problems, ideas and good practices about the situation of people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region. 81. The Osaka Forum, held from 21 to 23 October 2002, signaled the last of the 10 campaigns, and the Regional NGO Network, which had been established for the purpose of organizing the annual conferences during the first Decade, was dissolved after the Osaka Forum. At the Forum, the idea of forming a new regional NGO network on disability was welcomed by various sectors as a way to strengthen regional initiatives and gain momentum towards meeting growing expectations and demands in the new millennium. It was decided that the name of the new network would be the Asia Pacific Disability Forum. 82. The Asia Pacific Disability Forum was formally inaugurated in November 2003 as the first and only NGO regional mechanism to promote implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework. According to its Constitution, this forum (the region’s networks of NGOs and self-help groups) will collaborate with ESCAP, the Thematic Working Group on Disability-related Concerns, other United Nations agencies and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability. 83. The Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability started its operational projects in 2003. The Center is a technical cooperation project of the Government of Thailand and the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It was established as a legacy of the first Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled People through Commission resolution of 58/4 of 22 May 2002 entitled "Promoting an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region in the twenty-first century". The building that will house the Center is expected to be officially inaugurated in 2004. G. Interregional collaboration 84. The Asian and Pacific Decade has influenced developments at the international level. Viewed as a good practice, it was replicated in two other regions. The African Decade of Disabled Persons (2000-2009) was formally proclaimed in 2002, and the Arab Decade of Disabled Persons will be formally proclaimed during 2004. 85. ESCAP has intensified collaboration with entities from these two regions. As the ESCAP region and the Western Asian region were grouped into one "Asian block" by the Ad Hoc Committee, ESCAP started working very closely with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) on the international convention and the activities of the Decade and, in 2003, three interregional gatherings were coordinated and arranged: two meetings organized by ESCAP and ESCWA, respectively, and another interregional meeting organized by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Disability Issues in Doha, Qatar. Experts from both regions attended those meetings. As a result, the aforementioned Bangkok Draft was translated into the Arabic language by a leading Arab NGO for wide dissemination in that region. 86. As the process towards the Convention requires a consensus at the global level and "South-South" dialogue and collaboration, ESCAP initiated a project to support activities related to the Decade at the interregional level. The first workshop on South-South dialogue was co-organized by ESCAP and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability and held in December 2003. Experts from the African region were invited. The second workshop was held at Bangkok in August 2004, involving African experts and an Arab expert. H. Disability statistics and research87. The Workshop on Improving Disability Data for Policy Use was organized jointly by the Statistics Division and the Emerging Social Issues Division of ESCAP. It was held at Bangkok from 23 to 26 September 2003. The workshop was conducted in accordance with the Biwako Millennium Framework. 88. The workshop was attended by statisticians, officials responsible for disability policy and representatives of civil society and NGOs working in the field of disability. The World Health Organization International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) and the United Nations Guidelines were major agenda items, and both the World Health Organization and the United Nations Statistics Division contributed substantively to the workshop. The Government of Australia, with exceptionally broad experience in the collection of disability statistics and the application of ICF, made a significant contribution. 89. The workshop would also contribute to ensuring that the Asian and Pacific perspective is taken into consideration in international disability initiatives, such as the Washington Group on Disability Measurement. Currently, Australia is the only country in the region that has participated in the first two meetings of the Washington Group on Disability Measurement. 90. The participants recommended that appropriate action be taken to implement the recommendations of the Biwako Millennium Framework on disability data, particularly through the collection of disability data on a regular basis for better policy formulation and promoting the participation of persons with disabilities in mainstream society and in the monitoring of progress towards the targets of the Biwako Millennium Framework. The workshop recommended initiating the application and implementation of ICF for conceptualizing and measuring health and disability with a view to creating a common framework for national disability information systems. To further strengthen disability statistics, two further workshops are scheduled to be held, in May and September 2004. I. Development of a national policy on disabilities91. A comprehensive national plan of action concerning disability is vital in order to implement the Biwako Millennium Framework at the national level. ESCAP has provided technical advisory services to a few countries, such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India and Timor-Leste. During an ESCAP mission to Kabul in September 2003, the Ministry of Martyrs and Disabled organized the first nationwide workshop on the development of a comprehensive national policy on disability, inviting experts from different districts of the country, and developed a draft national disability policy. Bangladesh and India organized national workshops on incorporating the Biwako Millennium Framework into their national disability policies, in which an ESCAP representative participated. ESCAP is providing technical support for the newly established national intergovernmental task force on development of a comprehensive disability policy in Timor-Leste. Through the ESCAP Pacific Operations Centre, Vanuatu and Cook Islands received technical advisory services on a rights-based national policy on disability, and ESCAP is currently in the early stage of providing a similar service to Solomon Islands. J. Community-based rehabilitation92. Many developing countries in the region are now beginning to replace traditional institutional and centralized rehabilitation programmes and projects with approaches better suited to their economic and social environments, which are characterized by poverty, high unemployment and limited resources for social services. Community-based rehabilitation forms the hub of such strategies. 93. ESCAP worked closely with Rehabilitation International on community-based rehabilitation in Timor-Leste, and two ESCAP representatives participated in the Workshop on Participatory Need Assessment of Community-based Rehabilitation, co-organized by Rehabilitation International and the Timor-Leste Secretariat of State for Labour and Solidarity and held on 19 and 20 January 2004 in Dili. IV. FUTURE CHALLENGES94. Achievement of the theme and goals of the new Decade is still in its initial stages. Progress made during the first Decade was uneven, and most of the key goals of the Biwako Millennium Framework will pose serious challenges in the years ahead. 95. The establishment of national statistical databases is essential to provide accurate information on people with disabilities and their situation. Without this information, it is almost impossible to plan appropriate services and monitor progress towards the achievement of the goals. 96. Strengthening the capacities of women with disabilities and their organizations must be a priority if persons with disabilities (both men and women) are to take responsibility for their own development in a participatory manner and in a sustainable and mutually reinforcing partnership with Governments and NGOs. 97. An important challenge in the near future is the creation of a unified regional effort on the elaboration of a new international convention for persons with disabilities and its ratification and implementation at the regional level, a process that might take several years. 98. Strong commitment by the Governments of the region, with full regional cooperation, is needed to break the vicious cycle of poverty and disability and to ensure that the equal rights of all people with disabilities, including the right to participate in development and decision-making, are fully achieved in Asian and Pacific societies by 2012. It is hoped that the goals of the Biwako Millennium Framework will largely have been achieved by then also. |
