Programme :
Opening statement
by Mr Shigeru Mochida Deputy Executive Secretary and Officer-in-Charge, a.i.
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
27 June 2005
UNESCAP Workshop on Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR)
and Poverty Alleviation of Persons with Disabilities
5 July 2005
Bangkok
Excellencies,
Distinguished participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
On behalf of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia
and the Pacific (UNESCAP), I am very pleased to welcome you to this Workshop
on Community-Based Rehabilitation and Poverty Alleviation of Persons with
Disabilities (Bangkok, 5 July 2005).
I would like to express my appreciation to each of you for having
accepted our invitation. We are indeed very fortunate to be able to bring
together such a distinguished body of regional experts to discuss the
important subject of this Workshop.
UNESCAP is very pleased to join hands with International Labour Office (ILO)
and the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF) to co-sponsor this
Workshop. This workshop is specifically designed for practitioners and
experts who are decision-makers in sectors important to Community-based
Rehabilitation (CBR) and poverty alleviation. We are also pleased to have
many distinguished leaders of our region’s civil society attending this
Workshop today, including some business people from multinational
corporations that are interested in hiring disabled employees. /I would like
I would like to express our gratitude to ILO for its significant support to
UNESCAP’S efforts to promote the full participation and equality of persons
with disabilities, not only through the organization of this particular
event but also through many other activities and initiatives during the
first Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons and the renewed Decade
from 2003 to 2012.
My appreciation also goes to our development partners, such as
Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability/Japan International
Cooperation (Jica), the World Health Organization and Food and Agricultural
Organization for their substantial support.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are at a critical juncture in history with regard to persons with
disabilities. Although the elaboration of a disability-specific
international human rights convention has been the subject of discussion for
more than 15 years, a real process has only begun to gather momentum
recently.
As you know, in December 2001, the United Nations General Assembly, by
Resolution 56/168, established an Ad Hoc Committee to consider proposals for
a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect
the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities. At the global level,
the 5th session of the Ad Hoc Committee on the International Convention was
held in New York at the beginning of this year and its 6th session is
scheduled for August.
At the regional level, the Governments in the Asian and Pacific region
proclaimed the second Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons from
/2003 to 2012.
2003 to 2012. The Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an
Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with
Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (BMF) was adopted as the major regional
policy guideline for the new decade (2003-2012). The BMF was designed to
ensure that persons with disabilities will be an integral part of the
efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, particularly in the
area of poverty alleviation. In the Asian and Pacific region, it is
estimated that of 400 million persons with disabilities, over 40 per cent
are living in poverty. These poor persons with disabilities lack access to
entitlements available to other members of society, including health, food,
education, employment and other basic social services, and are unable to
participate in the community decision-making process.
Poverty is both a cause and consequence of disability. Poverty and
disability reinforce each other, contributing to increased exclusion.
Mainstreaming disability into development means that all policies,
programmes and projects should include disability as a key issue, and that
planning, monitoring and evaluation should include as their integral part
disability impact assessment and disability budgeting. Recently, a
twin-track approach (an integrated policy for disability and development) is
receiving growing interest and attention by some technical cooperation
agencies, such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, USAID,
Scandinavian bilateral agencies and JICA.
There is an urgent need for Governments to adopt the twin track approach,
by including as a major target group, persons with disabilities into their
national poverty alleviation scheme and community development initiatives.
Indeed, many developing countries in our region are now beginning /to
replace
to replace traditional institutional and centralized rehabilitation
programmes and projects with innovative approaches better suited to disabled
people’s socio-economic environments of poverty and limited resources.
Community-Based Rehabilitation forms the hub of such strategies. CBR is
particularly appropriate for the early intervention on disabilities,
reaching out to persons with disabilities in rural and remote communities,
raising awareness for their inclusion in the community, and promoting
disabled entrepreneurship for self-reliance and dignity. In this regard, an
effective utilization of micro-credit schemes for entrepreneurship by
disabled persons, reinforced by community awareness and advocacy, may be
among the key strategic tools for success.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to conclude by expressing our shared aspiration towards an
inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society, a society in which all
people with diverse abilities can fully enjoy the fruits of development on
an equal basis.
I wish you success in your deliberations and a pleasant stay in Bangkok.
Thank you.
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