Online Support Comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities Online Activities Hosted by

Meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee, 29 July - 9 August 2002 : NGO Bulletins : Disability Negotiations Bulletin #2 July 30, 2002 Today's Weather Forecast Partly cloudy High: 96º F/ 35ºC  Low: 78º F/28ºC Exchange Rate 10 US Dollars Euro (EUR) = 10.2035 Mexican Peso (MXN) = 97.0290 Ecuador(same as US dollar) Sierra Leone (SLL) = 19,300.00 Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Today's Schedule: 9:00 - 9:45am Disability Caucus Conference Room D 10am  - 1pm & 3pm - 6pm Ad Hoc Committee Meeting Conference Room 1 2:30 pm BRIEFING: NGO Briefing Chairman Conference Room D INSIDE THIS ISSUE: Open Letter to the Delegates Human Rights and Global Realities Disability Caucus to Meet Daily Global Support for an International Treaty Disability Awareness Badge of Honor and Dishonor Resource Corner NGO Accreditaion Procedures Open Letter to the Delegates The European Union has adopted 2003 as the European Year of People with Disabilities. The Campaign will begin in Greece in January and move through every member State of the Union to end with Italy in December. The opening of the Ad Hoc committee meeting was attended by more than 100 country delegations. In the morning session, three delegations were given the floor to voice their support for the convention. These included Chile, Mexico and Denmark, which represented the European Union and 14 other countries aligned with the EU position. This session adjourned early, as no other delegations asked to be recognized from the floor. This disappointing level of engagement by participants continued in the afternoon session, when only Croatia and Norway made statements. There were no requests by NGOs to be recognized by the Chair. Although no NGOs spoke from the floor of the conference hall, Ambassador Luis Gallegos, Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee, met with NGOs between sessions to hear their comments, suggestions and concerns about the convention development process. Many NGO representatives addressed the Chair, emphasizing the need for government delegations to benefit from the perspectives and expertise that could only be offered by persons with disabilities and their representative organizations. The Chair stated that he was eager to welcome full participation of NGOs and would do his best to help establish a process that would facilitate such participation. The core issue that remains unsettled is the role of NGOs in thematic discussions. It is not clear when this issue will be solved. If the general debate continues to be characterized by lackluster participation, and is conceivable that it will be ended before there is clarity on this issue for the next phase of discussion, where the experience and expertise of disability groups will be most valuable. Ambassador De Alba, Mexican Permanent Mission to the UN, stressed to the NGOs gathered that NGO participation depends largely on their own efforts and that they should continue to exert pressure to help define their role. Ambassador De Alba stated that Mexico intended to introduce formally its draft elements document immediately after the general debate. Return to top Human Rights and Global Realities People with disabilities have the right to be free from discrimination. The Right: People with disabilities have the right to be free from discrimination. Discrimination is a widely recognized violation of human rights law, however, the concept of equality in existing international human rights treaties has not adequately recognized the extent to which people with disabilities as a group experience discrimination. The Reality: In Thailand, the Constitutional Court ruled 8 to 3 to ban the appointment of people with disabilities as judicial officials. One judge reasoned that the judiciary had the right to recruit individuals with "optimal potential," and that "prevalent cultural values" placing preference on "able-bodied" people was a factor in the decision. The Reality: In one German court case, a plaintiff succeeded in a breach of contract claim against a travel agency on the basis that her holiday was spoiled by the presence of disabled people in the hotel restaurant. This case led to a number of cases of people with disabilities being excluded from hotels and other facilities on the basis that it would disturb other customers. Return to top Disability Caucus to Meet Daily The UN is providing meeting space for NGOs to meet and have discussions. The room is also a resource center where all participants may pick up resource materials in both hard copies and disc format. A large print copy of this Bulletin will be posted on the wall daily. A computer with accessible software for people with visual disabilities to access resource materials will be available at specified times. The Disability Caucus is to meet there daily at 9:00 a.m., before the Ad Hoc Committee commences. All are welcome and encouraged to make use of this meeting space. Caucus on Mental Health and Disability Meets on Day One A number of organizations forming part of the Caucus On Mental Health and Disability met on Day One in Conference Room D. For more information about this and future meetings, please contact Celia Brown, Support Coalition International at cksean@aol.com or Nancy Wallace, World Federation for Mental Health at newallace@earthlink.net Return to top Global Support for an International Treaty on the Rights of People with Disabilities: FACT A 1997 study by UNICEF and Rehabilitation International found that a girl or woman with a disability is much less likely to receive adequate rehabilitative care than a man with a disability of the same age and background. People with Disabilities Lend their Voice to the Treaty Dialogue… This Just in From El Salvador, Slovenia, Sri Lanka… "In El Salvador, a national law of equal opportunities for people with disabilities was adopted after the signing and ratification of the Mine Ban Treaty. However, this law has not had the expected results because it has not been disseminated and divulge and few institutions know about it. An international convention will help to raise awareness of disability rights and will reinforce the important role of the Mine Ban Treaty as it relates to mine-affected countries." Jesús Martinez, Director, Landmine Survivors Network - El Salvador "Slovenian disability organizations are now in a campaign to integrate anti-discrimination provisions on the basis of disability into the Slovenian constitution. The UN Convention will help in creating a new tool for monitoring the situation of disabled people and for initiating laws, programmes and services that will remove obstacles to full participation all over the World. Marjan Kroflic, Federation of Disabled Workers of Slovenia, Slovenia I would like to see a treaty adopted by the UN so that I can use it to advocate for better services for disabled people in my community." Veteran Soldier, Sri Lanka Return to top Badges of Honor and Dishonor Disability Awareness Badge of Honor FACT: UNICEF reports that there are some 120 million children with disabilities in the world. Ecuador ...for assuming the Chairmanship of the Ad Hoc Committee Meeting and for arranging to meet with NGOs daily Disability Awareness Badge of Dishonor Awarded as necessary, nominations accepted Return to top Resource Corner: Web Links Mexico: Website of the Expert Group Meeting on the Comprehensive and Integral International Convention to Promote and Protect the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, hosted by the Mexican government - http://www.sre.gob.mx/discapacidad United States: National Council on Disabilities - http://www.ncd.gov Return to top NGO Accreditation Procedures Applications for the first meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee may be submitted up to the beginning of and during the session. However, for future meetings of the Ad Hoc Committee, applications must be received no less than four weeks prior to the session. The applications must comply with the requirements listed in paragraph 44 of the ECOSOC Resolution 1996/31, which can be found at : http://www.un.org/esa/coordination/ngo/Resolution_1996_31/Part_7.htm The applications should be sent to : Mr. Yao N'Goran NGO Focal Point Division for Social Policy and Development Two UN Plaza, DC-2-1376 New York, NY 10017 Telephone: 212-963-3175 Fax: 212-963-3062 Return to top Publication staff: Joelle Balfe, Campaign Development Group, USA Elaine Belmear, Landmine Survivors Network, USA Rosangela Berman-Bieler, Inter-American Institute on Disability, Brazil Steven Estey, Disabled Peoples' International, Canada Janet E. Lord, Landmine Survivors Network, USA Kicki Nordstrom, World Blind Union, Sweden William Rowland, World Blind Union, South Africa This Bulletin was produced by the following group of non-governmental organizations, who are committed to the development of a strong and effective international convention on the human rights of people with disabilities and a process for its development that is transparent, inclusive and participatory. If your organization would like to add its name to this group, please contact Elaine Belmear at: ebelmear@att.net. If you have suggestions for the Bulletin, please contact a member of the Publication Staff. American Association of People with Disabilities American Council of the Blind Council of Canadians with Disabilities Center for International Rehabilitation Disabled Peoples' International European Disability Forum Inter-American Institute on Disability Japanese Federation of the Deaf Landmine Survivors Network Mental Disability Rights International Not Dead Yet Rehabilitation International Support Coalition International United States International Council on Disabilities World Blind Union World Institute on Disability Return to top