Programme :
Opening statement by Mr Kim Hak-Su
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and
Executive Secretary,
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP)
delivered by Ms Keiko Okaido, Deputy Executive Secretary and
Officer-in-Charge, a.i. of the Secretariat
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 all of you to this
UNESCAP/APDF Workshop on Regional Follow-up to the Third and Fourth Sessions
of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International
Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of
Persons with Disabilities.
I would like to express my appreciation to each of you for accepting our
invitation. We are indeed very fortunate to be able to bring together such a
distinguished body of experts to discuss the important subject of this
Workshop.
UNESCAP is very pleased to join hands with the Asia-Pacific Disability
Forum (APDF) to co-organize this Workshop, which is specifically designed
for promoting dialogue between civil society groups and high-ranking public
officials who are decision-makers in sectors important to persons with
disabilities, in the process of drafting the International Convention on
Persons with Disabilities. We are particularly pleased to have many
distinguished leaders of civil society, NGOs, national human rights
commissions, self-help groups, lawyers, and activists attending this
workshop.
I would like to express our gratitude to the APDF for its significant
support for the efforts of UNESCAP to promote the full participation and
equality of persons with disabilities, not only through the co-organization
of this particular Workshop but also through many other activities and
initiatives during the second Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons.
My appreciation also goes to the Governments of Japan and China for their
financial support for organizing this Workshop through their annual
contribution to the UNESCAP disability trust fund.
Ladies and gentlemen,
We are at a critical juncture in history with regard to persons with
disabilities. A real process of elaborating a disability-specific convention
is gaining momentum. This Regional Workshop is of great significance because
we aim to formulate a joint political statement in support of the process of
drafting the Convention.
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. The 1st session of the
Ad Hoc Committee was held in New York in 2002. Subsequently, General
Assembly Resolution 57/229 of 18 December 2002 further encouraged
Governments, United Nations bodies, including regional commissions, and
other organizations to make available to the Ad Hoc Committee suggestions
and possible elements to be considered regarding the proposed Convention.
At the 2nd session of the Ad Hoc Committee to consider proposals for an
International Convention, held in June 2003 in New York, Member States
agreed to start elaborating the Convention, and a special Working Group was
established with the mandate to develop a consolidated draft text of the
Convention. The Working Group was composed of 27 Governments, 12 NGOs
(including Rehabilitation International and Disabled Peoples’ International)
and one national human rights institution, with full participation of
persons with disabilities and civil society. The outcome document, the draft
Convention text was submitted to the 3rd session of the Ad Hoc Committee,
which took place in New York in May-June 2004, for consideration by Member
States and NGO representatives.
At the regional level, last year UNESCAP organized a series of workshops
on the elaboration of a possible structure and elements of the Convention.
At these meetings, experts from our region formulated “the Bangkok Draft”, a
draft text that fed into the Chairman’s Text during the first Working Group
Session, at New York in January 2004. UNESCAP was represented at the 2nd and
3rd sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee.
This event is particularly timely in our region, as Governments in the
Asian and Pacific region have proclaimed the extension of the Asian and
Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons for another 10 years from 2003 to 2012.
Some of you may still recall that at a High-level Intergovernmental Meeting
in Japan in October 2002 “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. UNESCAP is also organizing the
first regional workshop on monitoring progress in the implementation of the
BMF, to be held on Wednesday, 13 October, immediately after this workshop.
The workshop aims to provide a baseline for monitoring further progress
during the remaining years of the Decade.
As many of you are aware, the BMF presents a paradigm shift from viewing
disability primarily as a social welfare issue to a rights-based issue, in
which empowerment of persons with disabilities is seen as an important
component of socio-economic development at the national level.
During the last Decade, annual 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 also provided a platform for persons with disabilities as well as
non-disabled participants from our region to network and share experiences,
problems, ideas and good practices. The Osaka Forum, held in October 2002,
signaled the last of the ten annual Campaigns, and the dissolution of the
Regional NGO Network (RNN), which was established for the purpose of
organizing these annual Conferences during the first Decade.
However at the Forum, the idea of forming a new, re-vitalized regional
NGO Network on Disability was welcomed by various sectors to strengthen new
regional initiatives and momentum to meet growing expectations and demands
of the new millennium. The new network, the “Asia-Pacific Disability Forum (APDF)”
was officially established in November 2003 in Singapore. Ms. Judy Wee
(Singapore) was elected to be the first President. Ms. Judy Wee, I would
like to extend a special and warm welcome to you and the APDF members.
This workshop is a testimony to UNESCAP’s belief in the necessity and
value of working together with civil society, NGOs and members of the
disability community within this region. We strongly believe that this
excellent partnership, with constant dialogue and negotiation between the
disability community and the governments of our region is considered to be a
good practice to be replicated in other countries. This is particularly
true, as increasing responsibility now rests with government delegates at
the global inter-governmental forum.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The primary aim of the current Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled
Persons is to promote the paradigm shift towards empowerment of all persons
with disabilities. This Workshop and the broader framework within which it
is conducted represent a common regional endeavour determination to achieve
this goal.
I would like to conclude by expressing our shared aspiration towards an
inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society, in which all people with
different abilities can fully enjoy their rights on an equal basis.
I wish you success in your deliberations and a pleasant stay in Bangkok.
Thank you.
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