HEADLINES
Issue 1 April 2004
RI World Congress
The 20th World Congress will take place in Oslo, Norway, June 21-24, 2004. The theme of the Congress is “Rethinking Rehabilitation” and the Congress Organizers have worked hard to prepare an exciting and informative program. Please note that the early registration deadline has been extended until May 15 and the Congress fee (540 Euros) includes lunches and other amenities. The registration fee for people from East and Central Europe and low-income countries is USD 300 (see Congress web site: www.ri-norway.no for a complete list of countries). In addition, organizations that send five or more registrations will receive a 10% discount. Participants will also receive a 10% discount on their flight to Oslo on most of the 16 partner airlines of the Star Alliance – refer to the code SK201S4. Breakfast is included in hotel prices.
Featured Congress speakers include: Mary Robinson, the first female UN Human Rights Commissioner and former President of Ireland; prize-winning author Zygmunt Bauman, Professor Emeritus of the Universities of Leeds and Warsaw, known as “the prophet of post-modernism;” Gro Harlem Brundtland, three-time Prime Minister of Norway and first woman to head the World Health Organization; Tom Shakespeare of the U.K., leading researcher in the social and ethical implications of the new genetics; Florence Nayiga Sekabira, Uganda’s Minister of State for the Elderly and Disabled; and other leaders charting new paths in disability rights and development at the World Bank, the United Nations, the Atlas Alliance, Disabled Peoples International and Rehabilitation International.
In addition, there will be close to 40 different parallel sessions on issues such as Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR), governance and disability, and local production of wheelchairs.
RI Executive Committee
The Executive Committee met in February in Ft Lauderdale, Florida, USA and discussed among other things, issues relating to RI’s strategic planning and plans for future. A summary of decisions will be posted on RI’s web site and a report will be given at RI’s Governing Assembly, June 19 – 20, 2004 in Oslo, Norway.
Assembly by mail ballots
We would like to remind RI National Member Organizations about the ongoing Assembly by Mail Ballot regarding membership issues and about amendments to the constitution.
One in Ten evaluation
For the past 20 years RI has produced One in Ten, a publication promoting issues relating to children with disabilities in developing countries, with funding support from UNICEF. The latest edition, Volume 25, “Children with Disabilities in Africa,” has recently been distributed. An evaluation sheet was included in the mailing. We kindly ask you to fill out the evaluation sheet and return it to the Secretariat by fax, letter or E-mail (Attention: Michele Morgan). The evaluation form and the latest One in Ten are available on our web site at: http://www.rehab-international.org/publications/index.html.
Towards a United Nations Disability Convention
Following a decision by the United Nations General Assembly in December 2003, a Working Group composed of government and NGO representatives met in New York, USA, January 5 – 16, 2004 to draft Convention text. Gerard Quinn and a volunteer staff of three lawyers ably represented RI at the meeting.
The draft text can be found at www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahcwgreportax1.htm
RI member organizations can also order the text from the RI Secretariat.
Two UN Ad Hoc meetings will be held during 2004 in New York: May 24 – June 4 and August 23 – September 3.
We encourage RI members to be in touch with their governments. Your government’s view will determine what kind of convention we will have. We need a strong convention that supports the right to self-determination by people with disabilities!
Standard Rules Supplement
The UN General Assembly adopted the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities I 1993. It has played an important role in promoting disabled people’s rights in many countries particularly in the developing world, but it was agreed that some issues, such as children, violence against women, housing and new technology, were missing.
A supplement to the Standard Rules was therefore developed and presented to UN member countries in 2002. This supplement was discussed at the meeting of the Commission for Social Development in New York, February 2004. Most countries, such as those that comprise the European Union, were prepared to accept the supplement. A minority of countries including the USA and Australia were not prepared to accept the supplement. Switzerland volunteered to explore efforts towards an agreement. The Supplement is schedule to be next discussed at a UN ECOSOC meeting this July.
We ask RI member organizations in countries currently opposing the Supplement to be in touch with your governments and encourage them to support it. The Supplement, as well as some comments by governments, can be found at: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/disecn520024e2.htm
International Disability Alliance – IDA
IDA held a meeting in New York in January 2004. Important issues on the agenda were the Supplement to the Standard Rules and joint efforts by the international disability organizations to promote a UN Convention. The IDA network accepted the International Federation on the Hard of Hearing People as a new member organization in its network.
IDEAS
RI is a partner in the IDEAS project, which publishes an online magazine, DisabilityWorld (www.disabilityworld.org) in English and Spanish, and holds annual international expert meetings on key topics. Issue #22 of DisabilityWorld was posted on April 1, featuring 65 news items and in-depth articles from 21 countries, and introducing 3 new reporters from Afghanistan, Kenya and Madagascar.
Recent expert meetings were held as follows: employment trends, held in Houston, July 2002, together with the Independent Living Research Utilization program headed by Lex Frieden, in collaboration with the RI Commission on Employment & Work; best practices in disability media, held in Moscow, September 2002, organized by RI staff; and governance and disability, held in Durban, October 2003 as part of the RI Regional Conference on Africa. Part 2 of the governance meeting will be held as a workshop at the RI World Congress in Oslo. An IDEAS overview of historic and contemporary approaches to independent living has just been published by the World Institute on Disability and is available from Jennifer@wid.org.
Women and youth with disabilities
RI, with funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (Sida), worked together with the RI member organization in South Africa, the National Council for the Physically Disabled, on a project to help raise the voice of the African Decade through empowerment strategies and public education campaigns developed hand-in-hand with some of the most vulnerable and least heard from groups: women and youth with disabilities.
In addition to attending the RI Regional Conference in Durban, the group participated in ongoing activities including “Raising the Voice” of the International Day of People with Disabilities, December 3, in their own communities. The project concluded in February 2004, an evaluation was conducted and a final report was submitted to Sida. The feedback from the participants in the program was excellent and several members of the leadership group reported pursuing ongoing activities in their local communities, including: leading their own workshops, starting incoming generating projects to support African Decade activities, writing press releases for the International Day of People with Disabilities, and working on built environment issues such as adding access ramps for people using wheelchairs.
One participant reported facilitating a training session on HIV/AIDS and disability. Another participant indicated that the workshop program had given her an indication of what needs to be done in her community to improve the communication around and situation of people with disabilities. Other participants also shared knowledge learned from their colleagues in other African countries with their home organizations, thereby increasing the impact of the project.
RI thanks Sida for funding the project and the participants for their excellent work.
International study of disability benefits
RI and its member organizations in Germany, Japan, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, and UK are participating in a research project funded by the US Social Security Administration. A presentation will be given at the RI World Congress in Oslo. The project will conclude in July 2004 with a seminar in Washington DC.
ConnecTV project
ConnecTV, a TV training program for people with disabilities, is connecting people with disabilities from various areas around the globe via video conferencing to discuss issues important in their lives, exchange information about programs, services and approaches available in their home countries and thus participate in the ongoing process of building a worldwide disability community. These recorded video conferencing exchanges will be incorporated into a publicly broadcast TV show with the goal of educating the public about the talents and achievements of people with disabilities from around the world.
ConnecTV’s award-winning short documentaries include topics such as art and mental illness, adjusting to disability later in life, sexuality and disability, and life after school for teenagers with disabilities. ConnecTV is working to create a space where people with disabilities can educate each other about how their societies are dealing with different challenges so people with disabilities can forge their own agenda for the future.
For more information contact Chris Arnold, ConnecTV Program Director, at chris@dctvny.org.
Easy Access Travel
Starting in December 2003, Easy Access Travel Ltd., a non-profit service offered by the Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, provides a full range of travel services including ticketing, tour packages, inbound and outbound tour arrangement and visa applications. The service specializes in providing accessible travel services to people with special traveling needs, such as travelers requiring the use of wheelchairs, mobility aids, assistants and caregivers. Easy Access Travel also aims to create employment opportunities for people with disabilities in the travel industry. Benny Cheung, Vice Chairman of the Hong Kong Society and RI Deputy Vice President for Asia and the Pacific, is chairing the committee that manages this new service. For more information go to: www.easyaccesstravelhk.com.
Membership dues for 2004
We would like to remind those organizations that haven’t yet paid their dues for 2004 to do so to:
Fleet Bank
116 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10011
USA
Account # 9420309988
ABA# 021000322
or by check to the RI secretariat
Reminder about 2004 RI Nominations
The Nomination Committee has been searching for a new Executive Committee to be elected at the RI Governing Assembly in Oslo, Norway in June 19 – 20, 2004. A list of nominees will be sent to RI member organizations mid-April.
Mary Carella-Diamantopoulos (elepap@otenet.gr) is the coordinator for the Nomination Committee.
RI Awards
You are invited to send nominations for the following awards to the Secretariat (RehabIntl@rehab-international.org) no later than May 5. Please include the nominee’s name and justification for nomination. Awards will be given at the Governing Assembly in Oslo.
RI’s Presidential Award is given to recognize an individual or an organization whose work and accomplishments over an extended period of time have contributed significantly to prevent or overcome physical, mental and/or sensory disability.
The Henry H Kessler Awards are given to three individuals or organizations whose achievements in a specific area of activity have contributed significantly to mankind’s ability to overcome the occurrence and disadvantages of physical, mental and/or sensory disability.
More detailed information about the awards can be found in RI’s bylaws and can also be requested from the Secretariat.
Recognition
Dr. Joseph Kwok, RI National Secretary for Hong Kong SAR and Vice Chair of RI Asia and the Pacific Regional Committee, has been appointed Chairman of the Rehabilitation Advisory Committee (RAC) of the Hong Kong SAR Government from January 2004. The RAC is the central coordinating mechanism to oversee the development and monitor the provision of all rehabilitation services for people with disabilities in Hong Kong. A professor in the university, Joseph is Vice Chairperson of the Joint Council for the Physically and Mentally Disabled Hong Kong, which is the umbrella body of local rehabilitation and disability NGOs. His honorable appointment is welcomed by the disability and welfare sector and expectedly, would further heighten the well being of people with disabilities in Hong Kong and elsewhere.
RI Deputy Vice President Susan Daniels has received the prestigious Henry B. Betts award for her outstanding accomplishments on behalf of people with disabilities on both domestic and international levels. The prize of 50,000USD is given annually in honor of Dr. Betts, a leading rehabilitation physician based in Chicago, and juried by the American Association of People with Disabilities. Because Dr. Daniels had just recently broken her leg, it was uncertain until the last moment whether she could be present for the March 16 gala event. The crowd enthusiastically received her speech that emphasized how important it is to be involved in international disability work.
Future RI meetings
2004 Executive Committee, June 17 – 18; Assembly, June 19 – 20; and World Congress, 21 – 24 June, Oslo, Norway. More information about the World Congress can be found at: http://www.ri-norway.no
2005 Executive Committee, Governing Assembly and Regional Conference, 19 – 23 November 2005, Bahrain.
2006 Executive Committee, Assembly and the 13th RI Asia and the Pacific Regional Conference, Bangkok, Thailand, 2006
2007 Open for suggestions
2008 RI Assembly, Executive Committee, and World Congress, Quebec City, Canada.
Obituaries
Dr. Marion Fang passed away at her home due to illness at the age of 80.
Marion who was an RI Life Patron had worked closely with her elder brother Prof. Sir Harry Fang and devoted much of her time to advancing the mission of "An Equal and Inclusive Society for All". Her dedication and passion to the development of rehabilitation and education endeavors for people with disabilities, impressed people working with her. She had been actively involved in the RI Education Commission, International Abilympics Federation and many other important forums. She was a widely recognized pioneer in the arena of arts by people with disabilities in Hong Kong and also a staunch advocate for promoting Conductive Education in mainland China and neighboring Asian countries. The passing away of Marion is a great loss to both the local and international rehabilitation fraternity.
Bassem Hamdan passed away on the 19th of March. Bassem was one of the main leaders in the Lebanese disability movement and the movement against violence and war in Lebanon. His passing away is a big loss in the disability movement in Lebanon and the Arab world, and in particular to NARD, as he was one of its founders. Bassem was also active internationally and attended several international meetings.