Dear APDF members and colleagues,

I am pleased to inform you of the inauguration of Asia and Pacific Disability Forum(APDF)which was formally established at its first General Assembly held in Singapore on November 26 with around 200 participants. Although not many delegates could attend there due to a short notice of the meeting, APDF Constitution was adopted and the Executive Committee members were elected, based on the Constitution. Since then Ex Co had two meetings; one in Singapore on November 28 and the other on February 29, 2004 through internet.

The followings are the highlight of the results of the General Meeting on November 26, 2003 and Ex Co meeting on November 28 and February 29, 2004.

Out of six Working Committees the following chairs of the five Committees were elected;

1. UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Chair: Mr. Monthian Buntan (E-mail address: mbuntan@tab.or.th )

2. Annual Conference
Chair : Vacancy

3. Information
Chair: Dr. Joseph Kwok (E-mail address: ssjk@cityu.edu.hk )

4. Gender Issues
Chair: Ms. Supattraporn Tanakikom (E-mail address: sarahmai@ksc.th.com)

5. Researches and Development
Co Chairs: Mr. Hyung Shik Kim (E-mail address: hskim924@hotmail.com) and Mr. Topong Kulchinkat (E-mail address: rdo@dpiap.org)

6. Fund Raising and Sponsorship
Chair : Mr. Godfrey Ooi Goat See (E-mail address: mablind@po.jaring.my)

As each chair is now recruiting its members, please contact a relevant chair directly if you wish to be a member of one of the Working Committees? For your information, each Chair is asked to submit a member list until the end of April.

Where will next APDF Meeting be organized?

The Conference will be held every other year together with APDF General Assembly. The site for next Conference has not been decided yet. It will be proposed and decided at next Ex Co meeting to be held in Bangkok on June 14, 2004 in conjunction with ESCAP hematic Working Group meeting on June 15 and 16. Those who wish to invite the meetings to your country/territory, please submit a proposal to the Secretariat by the end of May 2004. Please see other details from the attached materials.

Your comments and questions are most welcome. I look forward to hearing from you on these matters soon.

With best regards,

Ryosuke Matsui
APDF Secretary General
C/O JSRPD, 1-22-1, Toyama,
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Phone 813-5273-0601, fax 813-5273-1523
e-mail: matsuir@mt.tama.hosei.ac.jp or eueno@dinf.ne.jp

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