| The Agenda
for Action of the Decade - Overview
Contents
Introduction
The United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, 1983-1992,
coincided with a period of economic dynamism throughout
much of the Asian and Pacific region. The concluding years
of the United Nations Decade also witnessed major breakthroughs
in peace-building in the region marked by significant improvements
in conflict resolution and rapprochement between diverse
states.
It was in this hospitable context that the Social Development
Strategy for the ESCAP Region Towards the Year 2000 and
Beyond was adopted by the Fourth Asian and Pacific Ministerial
Conference on Social Welfare and Social Development, held
at Manila in October 1991. The Strategy has the ultimate
aim of improving the quality of life of all the people of
the ESCAP region. With that aim in mind, the basic objectives
of the Strategy are the eradication of absolute poverty,
the realization of distributive justice and the enhancement
of popular participation. Within the framework of those
aims and objectives, the Strategy assigns priority to the
region's disadvantaged and vulnerable social groups, including
persons with disabilities.
Further to the priority given to the concerns of persons
with disabilities in the regional Social Development Strategy,
thirty-three countries attending the forty-eighth ESCAP
session in April 1992 joined in sponsorship of resolution
48/3 on an Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons,
1993-2002. In adopting the resolution, the Governments of
the region expressed their collective commitment to the
full participation and equality of people with disabilities.
The Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons provides
an opportunity for the 56 countries and areas of the ESCAP
region to consolidate the efforts initiated during the preceding
United Nations Decade through a new emphasis on regional
cooperation in support of progress at the national level.
In particular, it provides a context for the strengthening
of technical cooperation among developing countries, as
well as between the region's developing and developed countries,
in the resolution of key issues that affect the lives of
people with disabilities.
To achieve the objectives of the Asian and Pacific Decade
of Disabled Persons, an agenda for action is needed that
translates the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled
Persons into an agenda for the Asian and Pacific region,
in response to the review and appraisal of the achievements
of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, 1983-1992,
in the Asian and Pacific region as contained in document
SD/DDP/1, 1992.
The present document provides a framework for the formulation
of that agenda for action. The framework consists of the
major policy categories under which efforts will be required
for the implementation of ESCAP resolution 48/3. These basic
policy categories include:
- National Coordination
- Legislation
- Information
- Public awareness
- Accessibility and communication
- Education
- Training and employment
- Prevention of causes of disabilities
- Rehabilitation services
- Assistive devices
- Self-help organizations
- Regional cooperation
Each of the policy categories constituting the framework
contains a list of areas of concern of direct relevance
to the development of policies in support of the full participation
and equality of people with disabilities in Asia and the
Pacific.
The formulation of an agenda for action for the Decade
should be neither an exercise in regional target setting
nor an attempt to prescribe a uniform implementation strategy
for all countries. Given the vastness and diversity of the
region, ESCAP members and associate members will necessarily
differ on the details of their respective national action
programmes. There will be differences in the relative priority
to be assigned to particular activities. Specific short-
and long-term objectives, as well as approaches to and the
pace of implementation will also vary from country to country.
In the final analysis, however, the agenda for action will
provide the basis for a regional initiative aimed at realizing
the full participation and equality of persons with disabilities,
which comprise the objectives of the Asian and Pacific Decade
of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002.
Furthermore, the agenda for action is to be viewed in the
context of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled
Persons and other relevant United Nations international
instruments, mandates and recommendations.
Areas of concern
1. National Coordination
Establishment of a national coordination committee on disability
matters or strengthening of an existing one:
(a) As a permanent body with adequate infrastructural support;
(b) With representation from concerned government agencies,
and non-governmental organizations, including adequate representation
from organizations of people with disabilities;
(c) To serve as the national focal point on disability
matters and facilitate the continuous evolution of a comprehensive
national approach to the implementation of the World Programme
of Action concerning Disabled Persons and this agenda for
action by undertaking the following:
Review and coordinate the activities of all agencies and
non-governmental organizations working for and on behalf
of people with disabilities;
Develop a national policy to address issues faced by people
with disabilities
Advise the Head of State/Government, policy makers and
programme planners on the development of policies, legislation,
programmes and projects with respect to their impact on
people with disabilities;
Render guidance services to ministries in the enforcement
of legislation to protect the rights of people with disabilities,
and in the elimination of interpretations that are unfavourable
to people with disabilities;
Mobilize support for the development of a national data
base on disability-related issues;
Translate the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled
Persons and this agenda for action into the national (and
local) languages and in appropriate formats for widespread
dissemination at all levels;
Operate a scheme to upgrade the competence of staff of
the national coordination committee, particularly on management
skills, policy and programme development, and to include
persons with disabilities in staff recruitment and training;
Promote resource mobilization for dealing with disability
issues, including through the creation of adequate funds
with donations from industry, philanthropists and other
donors;
Promote the integration of people with disabilities, including
children and women with disabilities, in national plans
and in programmes and projects supported by international
agencies, including the United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF);
Review with donor agencies their funding policies from
the perspective of their impact on persons with disabilities;
Monitor and evaluate the impact of policies and programmes
on the full participation and equality of persons with disabilities,
and disseminate the results to concerned parties;
Facilitate national participation in regional cooperation
activities related to the implementation of Commission resolution
48/3;
Establish schemes to accord public recognition of outstanding
contributions to progress in pursuance of the goals of the
Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons;
Encourage the use of the relevant United Nations guidelines
for the establishment and development of national coordinating
committees on disability or similar bodies.
2. Legislation
(a) Concerning existing legislation:
Conduct of a survey to identify legal provisions that are
restrictive to people with disabilities;
Amendment or repeal of those restrictive legal provisions
and elimination of interpretations that are unfavourable
to people with disabilities;
(b) Enactment of a basic law on protection of the rights
of all persons with disabilities and prohibition of abuse
and neglect of these persons and discrimination against
them;
(c) Enactment of legislation aimed at equal opportunity
for people with disabilities, covering, for example:
Affirmative action measures and incentives in favour of
opportunities for people with disabilities to participate
in education, training, job placement, employment and entrepreneurship;
Tax relief and subsidies, as appropriate, for parents and
guardians of children with disabilities, as well as for
people with disabilities;
Customs clearance and exemption from customs duty of imported
vehicles, assistive devices, equipment and materials, including
medical supplies, required to facilitate the daily life
of people with disabilities;
(d) Enactment of legislation aimed at the elimination of
architectural and logistical barriers to freedom of movement
of citizens with disabilities, including incentives to encourage:
Private and public sector involvement in improving accessibility
of the built environment;
Facilitation of use, by persons with disabilities, of land,
air and water transport systems;
(e) Enactment of legislation aimed at the elimination of
communication barriers to reduce the social and physical
isolation commonly faced by people with disabilities, covering,
for example:
Production and dissemination of information, especially
public information, in appropriate formats (e.g., large
print, Braille, indigenous sign language, audio/video cassette
and floppy diskette);
Facilitation of, and concessions and subsidies for, the
use of postal and telecommunications equipment and services
by people with disabilities;
(f) Inclusion of the concerns of persons with disabilities
in social security legislation;
(g) Enactment of legislation for the promotion of health
and safety in the work-place, in public places, and in the
home, e.g.:
Prohibition on smoking as a public health hazard;
Restrictions on the sale of firearms and fireworks;
Restrictions on alcohol consumption and driving;
Control over the roadworthiness of vehicles;
Standards for the safety of equipment, items for industrial,
domestic and personal use, as well as toys and other items
that children may have access to;
(h) Development of means of ensuring the effective implementation
and enforcement of legislation, including:
Regulations on and guidelines for implementation;
Mechanisms to promote enforcement (e.g., community-level
committees, ombudspersons, enforcement tribunals);
Mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the enforcement of legislation;
(i) Enactment of legislation regarding persons with extensive
disabilities, of all ages, that assigns priority to the
provision of community-based personal assistance services
for daily living, to enable them to live in the community
with self-determination and dignity, rather than in residential
institutions;
(j) Dissemination of information on legislation, particularly
to people with disabilities and their advocates:
Enacted specifically to promote equal opportunities for
people with disabilities;
Enacted for the benefit of broader population groups (e.g.,
legislation on an issue [poverty alleviation] or for a specific
group [women]) among whom many people with disabilities
are included;
(k) Encouragement of the use of relevant United Nations
guidelines on national disability legislation;
(l) Encouragement of exchange of expertise and experiences
among ESCAP members and associate members concerning the
enactment and implementation of equalization legislation.
3. Information
(a) Development of national capacity for:
Collection and analysis of comprehensive and accurate data
on the national disability situation;
Documentation of disability-related issues and projects
in the country;
Responding accurately and quickly to queries on disability-related
issues in the country;
Packaging of information for diverse user groups;
Preparation and dissemination of directories of disability-related
resources available within the country;
Identification of national strengths and needs for the
purpose of regional cooperation in pursuance of this agenda
for action;
(b) Collaboration between public libraries, information
centres and organizations of persons with disabilities to
increase the availability of information material in floppy
diskette, large print, Braille, audio cassette and video
cassette formats;
(c) Introduction of captions in films and television programmes,
as well as those in video cassette format;
(d) Establishment of means to protect the privacy of individuals
with disabilities in the collection of disability-related
data.
4. Pubic awareness
(a) Strengthening of national capacity for improving public
awareness of the goals of the Asian and Pacific Decade of
Disabled Persons through measures such as:
Training of information service and media personnel and
representatives of organizations of people with disabilities
on communications about people with disabilities and the
Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons;
Encouragement of the use of United Nations guidelines on
improving communications about people with disabilities;
Requests to regional broadcasting and media organizations
and agencies to support the building of national capacity
in this regard;
Promotion of monitoring of the quality of media coverage
of issues related to the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled
Persons and feed back to media agencies on their observance
of the United Nations guidelines;
Enlistment of development communications organizations,
street theatre and folk media groups, and popular media
personalities to assist in the communication of information
to counter deep-rooted superstitions about disability and
persons with disabilities;
(b) Development of sustained national campaigns to promote
the competence of and shape positive attitudes towards people
with disabilities, directed at:
The general public;
Groups in a position to effect change (e.g., community
leaders, people with disabilities and their families, children,
students, policy makers, administrative authorities, professionals);
Removal of stigma attached to deformities;
Promotion of respect for the right of persons with disabilities
to parenthood and family life;
Enhancement of the dignity of persons with disabilities
in, and elimination of discriminatory terminology from,
advertising campaigns and other mass media activities;
(c) Promotion of endeavours that focus public attention
on people with disabilities as equal citizens, such as:
Cultural events and competitions involving people with
disabilities, including in integrated activities;
Direct involvement of people with disabilities in media
activities, including mainstream ones that are unrelated
to disability;
(d) Encouragement of the use of terminology to describe
individuals with disabilities that focuses on the person
and not the disability, such as "people/persons with
disabilities" and not "the disabled" or "the
handicapped".
5. Accessibility and communication
(a) Review of the planned and existing built environment
and practices employed in its extension and maintenance,
with a view to the development of measures for improving
its accessibility;
(b) Development of barrier-free design codes to cover new
construction as well as renovation and expansion (including
office and residential buildings, public facilities, areas
around buildings, roads and transport infrastructure);
(c) Amendment of existing codes to include accessibility
features at the same level of importance as fire safety
features;
(d) Introduction of accessibility concerns, with the assistance
of people with disabilities, into programmes for the training
of professionals and technicians engaged in the construction
and maintenance of the built environment, including transport
infrastructure;
(e) Development and implementation of guidelines for electronic
accessibility to:
Increase the availability of electronic equipment that
people with disabilities may use either with or without
special peripherals (i.e., special aids that provide access
to electronic equipment, e.g., large print and Braille displays,
spoken input and output mechanisms, and keyboard enhancement
and replacement products);
Encourage public and private sector agencies and organizations
to consider electronic access for persons with disabilities
in their procurement and renting of equipment;
(f) Encouragement of citizens'/corporate initiatives to
develop approaches to the introduction of accessibility
to all areas of society, including key areas such as education,
information, housing and commerce;
(g) Selection, by national bodies, of appropriate approaches
to the improvement of accessibility for replication on a
wider scale;
(h) Training of personnel whose work involves contact with
the public, to improve their communication with people with
visual impairment and people with cognitive limitations;
(i) Support for sign language development aimed at:
Improving the availability of sign language interpretation
services;
Facilitating communication between people with hearing
impairment and hearing people, including those in public
service (e.g., in community centres, legal aid agencies,
banks, employment exchanges, police departments, hospitals);
(j) Expansion of telecommunications services, such as telecommunications
relay services and closed captioning, for individuals with
hearing and speech impairments;
(k) Support for enhanced availability of information to
vision-impaired people, through such means as:
Expansion of Braille/audio cassette/computer and voice
synthesizer information services;
Provision of reading services;
Training in the use of Braille and computer equipment;
Encouragement of the production of information in floppy
diskette, as well as in large print and high contrast format,
and with tactile markings;
Increase of the availability of low-cost low vision aid
devices;
(l) Encouragement of the production of simplified information
(e.g., in pictorial modes) to aid users with cognitive disabilities.
6. Education
(a) Specific inclusion of children and adults with disabilities
in national formal and non-formal programmes to meet the
goal of education for all;
(b) Specification of targets for girls and women with disabilities
as beneficiaries of national literacy and education programmes
and projects;
(c) Designation of a proportion of national and state/provincial
budgets for programmes to support the education of persons
with disabilities;
(d) Support for the participation of children and adults
with different types of disabilities in the mainstream of
the educational system through measures such as:
Development of home- and community-based early intervention
services for children with disabilities;
Education of parents and families of children with disabilities;
Conduct of positive attitude formation programmes aimed
at non-disabled persons in the educational system (e.g.,
school authorities, teachers and students) to break stereotyping
of persons with disabilities;
Organization of logistical support (e.g., transport and
accommodation) to facilitate the participation of persons
with disabilities in education programmes;
Introduction of parent-teacher consultative groups to assist
schools in responding to the changing individual educational
needs of children with disabilities, so as to ensure successful
integration in individual cases;
Gradual integration of special education into mainstream
education;
Modification of training/refresher programmes for school
teachers to improve their capabilities for developing the
full potential of students with disabilities;
Dissemination of teacher resource materials for use with
children with special learning needs;
Organization of additional support for regular classroom
teachers;
Revision of procedures for the administration of examinations
to enable children and adults with disabilities to obtain
academic qualifications, including higher education qualifications;
Use of technology and organization of services to improve
access to textbook and reference material in appropriate
formats.
7. Training and employment
(a) Use of relevant international labour standards on the
vocational rehabilitation and employment of persons with
disabilities as a guide and reference for the development
and implementation of training and employment programmes;
(b) Special attention to the participation of girls and
women with disabilities in training and employment opportunities;
(c) Development of pre-vocational training, including at
middle and secondary school level, to give girls and boys
with disabilities the necessary preparation, if they so
choose, for subsequent vocational training and placement;
(d) Ensuring the:
Quality of vocational training programmes in terms of their
relevance and sufficiency in preparing persons with disabilities
for gainful employment in the labour market;
Overall functioning of job placement services for people
with disabilities in order to place persons with disabilities
in suitable jobs in the open labour market;
(e) Conduct of workshops and seminars involving workers,
employers, representatives of cooperatives and non-governmental
organizations, including organizations of people with disabilities,
as well as other community leaders to:
Identify new training and employment opportunities for
people with disabilities;
Encourage job adaptation and work-site adjustment;
Develop training and employment schemes for persons with
disabilities;
(f) Strengthening of vocational rehabilitation services
through measures that, inter alia, emphasize:
Training of vocational rehabilitation staff;
Giving of due attention, through appropriate vocational
assessment measures, to the interests and needs of people
with disabilities in the planning of vocational rehabilitation
services;
Upgrading of the skills of job placement officers in ministries
of labour and social affairs and rehabilitation centres
for job identification, selection, recruitment, placement
and follow-up concerning people with disabilities;
(g) Training of people with disabilities:
To develop their self-confidence, mobility, as well as
skills in business management, and use of advisory services;
For gainful employment;
On ways and means of searching for employment in their
communities, including preparation for interviews with prospective
employers;
In mainstream human resource development facilities, whenever
possible and appropriate;
(h) Support for businesses of people with disabilities through
measures such as the:
Identification of opportunities for the production of goods
and services that are in high demand, taking into consideration
the compatibility of these with the skills and interests
of the persons concerned;
Conduct of feasibility surveys to ensure the viability
of such businesses;
Provision of business advice, facilitation of access to
loans and other resources from poverty alleviation schemes,
as well as follow-up, with special emphasis on meeting the
needs of rural-based people with disabilities;
(i) Support for the establishment and development of cooperatives
that facilitate the equal participation of people with disabilities
in their activities.
8. Prevention of causes of
disability
Formulation of national policies, programmes and implementation
guidelines aimed at:
(a) Information, education and communication:
Identification, through a variety of means, of the relative
proportion of different types of disability and their social
and economic dimensions;
Promotion of public awareness of individual, corporate
and state responsibilities concerning the prevention of
accidents (including road and industrial accidents), violence
against persons, abuse of drugs (including alcohol and nicotine),
as well as the control of communicable and endemic diseases
and malnutrition;
Promotion of public awareness of disability associated
with child abuse, neglect, exploitation, and victimization
in situations of armed conflict;
Promotion of public awareness of mental disability;
Development of media and campaign activities on the prevention
of causes of disability that support the right of people
with disabilities to live;
Dissemination of information on disability-related aspects
of environmental and public health issues to lay persons,
technicians, administrators and decision-makers;
(b) Promotion of health and safety through measures that
include:
Improvement in ante-, peri- and neonatal care;
Training of traditional birth attendants and midwives in
the prevention of obstetric trauma and the prevention and
management of infections in the newborn, as well as the
early detection of congenital anomalies and referral for
treatment;
Development of skills for prevention of disability in the
training of health care personnel, including traditional
healers;
Expanded provision of safe drinking water, water management
and sanitation systems;
Encouragement of community sanitation and personal hygiene
practices;
Expansion of immunization coverage with special emphasis
on the control of measles and poliomyelitis;
Strict control of the use and management of hazardous substances;
Adherence to established safety criteria for the disposal
of garbage;
Increase in the availability of low-cost protective devices
and promotion of healthy and safe working conditions for
workers in the industrial, agricultural and construction
sectors;
Noise control;
Emphasis on transport safety;
Encouragement of rational use of drugs;
Emphasis on safety concerns in product design;
Urgent attention to respect for international law, to control
of the production, sale and use of weapons that maim and
kill even in times of peace, and to the neutralization and
total removal of anti-personnel mines in affected countries;
(c) Special attention to the production and consumption
of foods through measures such as:
Promotion of school and family food gardens to ensure adequate
food supply to social groups at risk of being disabled as
a result of deficiencies in total food intake and in micro-nutrients;
Distribution of iodized salt;
Reduction of the risk of toxicity in the food chain (production
processing, preservation, storage);
(d) Strengthening of assessment, management and referral
covering, inter alia,:
Early detection and management of congenital anomalies,
infections, conditions and injuries that can lead to disability;
Maintenance of records of children at risk of disability
due to pre-, peri- and post-natal causes, and follow-up
of those records for early detection and management of disability;
Development of routine screening programmes for children;
Conduct of eye and ear camp programmes for low-income groups;
Provision of training in testing, analysis of results and
referral to health workers, school teachers and volunteers;
(e) Improvement of access, particularly in rural areas,
to timely surgical interventions through, e.g.,:
Development of basic surgical facilities using inter-disciplinary
teams with delegation, where appropriate, to trained clinical
personnel;
Support for mobile teams to provide services to people
with disabilities in remote communities;
(f) Support for the control of leprosy through long-term
public education combined with improved access to multi-drug
therapy, training, counselling, and protective aids to prevent
progressive disability from nerve injuries and injuries
to limbs and eyes.
9. Rehabilitation services
(a) Development of rehabilitation services that are:
Based on reliable data on the magnitude and nature of demand
for those services;
Time-bound for individuals;
Accessible by economically marginalized persons with disabilities,
including those living in remote areas;
Responsive to mental as well as physical disabilities;
Integrated into main development programmes such as those
for primary health care and maternal and child health;
(b) Strengthening and expansion of rehabilitation services
through, inter alia,:
Inclusion of rehabilitation as a specific component of
national policies on human resources development, social
development, health and disaster preparedness;
Coordination of the rehabilitation services provided by
different organizations;
Continuous review of the level of demand for rehabilitation
services, taking into consideration that the benefits of
such services may not be well known or accepted;
Promotion of the participation of people with disabilities
in the planning and implementation of rehabilitation policies
and programmes;
Development of awareness programmes for district and local
officers and community leaders to strengthen their role
in facilitating the improvement of rehabilitation services;
Training of trainers at national, provincial, district
and sub-district levels;
Upgrading of the professional capabilities of formally-trained
rehabilitation service personnel through the regulation
of national standards governing qualifications, quality
of service and professional codes of conduct;
Promotion of the capacity of hospitals, health centres
and clinics to provide rehabilitation services;
Development of rehabilitation activities, to the extent
possible, in the context of everyday social and economic
life;
Selective use of local cultural resources (e.g., relevant
traditional practices) to enhance rehabilitation services;
Documentation of national experience on the development
of rehabilitation skills for replication purposes;
(c) Preparation and dissemination of information on rehabilitation
resources:
Through the mass media and other public service channels;
In formats that are appropriate for users with disabilities;
(d) Development of community-based approaches as a means
of improving access to rehabilitation services, including
through:
Provision of policy, institutional and financial support;
Adaptation of existing manuals to meet the needs of communities
in diverse cultural, linguistic, and economic contexts;
Increase of training of field workers for work in slums
and rural areas;
Strengthening of the referral system, focusing on the first
referral level;
Support for people with disabilities and their advocates
to initiate and develop community-based rehabilitation (CBR)
activities;
Training of advocates and household members in basic rehabilitation
techniques;
Use of experience gained from the self-help movement of
people with disabilities to extend CBR services to persons
with mental disabilities;
Conduct of research, evaluation and information exchange;
(e) Expansion of the role of existing rehabilitation service
delivery centres as resource centres to support the development
of CBR through, inter alia,:
Training of CBR trainers, field workers and volunteers;
Dissemination of low-cost tools, including manuals, for
training purposes;
Organization of specialized follow up as required;
Assistance in meeting demand for assistive devices;
Research and networking.
10. Assistive devices
(a) National support for the development of regional cooperation
on assistive devices through:
Identification of national resources employed for the production
of assistive devices;
Development of a roster of national experts on assistive
devices, including low-cost ones;
Inventorization of items produced within the country to
facilitate the promotion of intra-regional trade in appropriate
assistive devices;
(b) Formulation of a national plan on assistive devices
covering overall needs assessment, appropriateness and sustainability,
production, import needs and export potential, innovation,
distribution, repair and maintenance, and training;
(c) Improvement of the availability of services and equipment
for field assessment of needs for assistive devices, as
well as expertise for the correct fitting of assistive devices;
(d) Provision of policy and programme support for research
and development (R and D) activities emphasizing the application
of new technologies to improve the availability of assistive
devices that are durable, repairable by local artisans/technicians,
and attractive;
(e) Development of information exchange among R and D institutions,
personnel (e.g., rehabilitation engineers, applied science
researchers), consumers (i.e., people with disabilities),
production workshops (e.g., artisans, mechanics, prosthetic/orthotic/orthoptic
technicians) and distribution channels (e.g., non-governmental
organizations, business firms, schools, social welfare departments,
hospitals and health centres);
(f) Documentation of user experience with locally-produced
and imported assistive devices and materials (e.g., appropriateness,
local adaptations, costs, factors pertaining to production
and distribution) to facilitate R and D, and the promotion
of intra-regional trade in appropriate assistive devices;
(g) Organization of a programme for the training of a national
corps of trainers in the production of assistive devices;
(h) Support for training through, inter alia, the establishment
of national standards of technical expertise, conduct of
refresher courses and examinations, issuance of technical
diplomas, as well as maintenance of a national roster of
experienced trainers;
(i) Establishment of programmes (e.g., observation and
dissemination of graphic materials and models) to encourage
mechanics, technicians and artisans in the use of their
skills for the production, maintenance and repair of assistive
devices at the local level;
(j) Assistance to community-level bodies and groups, especially
low-income groups, to obtain assistive devices (e.g., through
the provision of revolving loan funds, use of donated funds
to provide partial subsidies), in recognition of the additional
costs of disability to the individual.
11. Self-help organizations
(a) Provision of policy, programme and resource support
for the establishment and strengthening of self-help organizations
of people with disabilities, including associations of advocates
and families of persons with disabilities;
(b) Establishment and strengthening of those organizations
to provide a means for:
Exploration, through joint effort by those directly affected
by disability, of ways to enhance the economic independence
and social integration of persons with disabilities;
Collective self-representation by persons with disabilities
in policy and programme development;
(c) Conduct, by self-help organizations of persons with
disabilities, of, inter alia, programmes to:
Build self-confidence among members, through such means
as peer counselling, positive role modelling, and skills
development to meet individual needs;
Strengthen their members' expertise for effective participation
in national policy and programme development, especially
on organizational management, public relations work, and
technical knowledge for advocacy on specific issues;
Facilitate access for people with disabilities to information,
in appropriate formats, on resources available to the general
population as well as specifically for people with disabilities;
Strengthen understanding of gender issues;
Provide training on rights and responsibilities attached
to different roles in society (e.g., as organization members,
citizens, voters, employees, entrepreneurs and consumers
of services);
Provide an avenue for cultural expression by people with
disabilities;
Increase grass-roots membership;
Enhance the increased role to be played by persons with
disabilities in decision-making on disability matters;
(d) Encouragement of the leadership potential of girls and
women with disabilities;
(e) Support for self-advocacy by persons with developmental
disabilities;
(f) Advancement of peer counselling approaches to help
meet the needs of people with emotional and mental problems;
(g) Formation, by self-help organizations of people with
disabilities, of a national forum representing all disability
groups, with the assistance of national organizations and
government funding;
(h) Participation in efforts to improve national disability
statistics, through the collaboration of the forum with:
Government agencies to develop a national definition of
disability that incorporates, in addition to clinical perspectives,
consideration of functional limitations, for various stages
of life, in the performance of major life activities (e.g.,
hearing, seeing, moving, speaking, cognitive processing,
school attendance, working);
Consumer research entities to conduct surveys of the prevalence
rates of disability from a functional perspective;
(i) National forum action to:
Conduct research and disseminate information on the issues
that people with disabilities consider significant in their
daily lives, as an instrument for policy enhancement;
Represent forum constituents in a national coordination
committee on disability matters and in other bodies as required;
Undertake advocacy;
Mobilize resources for activities that directly benefit
people with disabilities;
Facilitate contact between concerned agencies and organizations
and various disability groups;
Organize programmes for meeting the training needs of member
organizations;
Forge intra- and interregional links with similar self-help
organizations;
Establish links with consumer protection groups and market
research agencies to encourage the design of products and
services that accommodate the needs of consumers with functional
limitations;
Involve experienced members in improving the production
and quality control of assistive devices;
(j) Establishment of mechanisms for consultation between
government agencies and organizations of people with disabilities
on disability matters.
Regional cooperation and support
in pursuance of the Agenda for Action
While the focus of the implementation of Commission resolution
48/3 and the agenda for action is at the national level,
the countries and areas of the region would benefit from
sharing their experience and expertise.
1. Networking
Regional cooperation may take the form of building up a
network of agencies and organizations concerned with supporting
national pursuance of the agenda for action and undertaking
specific activities in selected areas through the proposed
network. The Asia-Pacific Inter-organizational Task Force
on Disability-related Concerns, of which ESCAP serves as
the secretariat, would assume responsibility for initiating
the formation and functioning of the network subject to
the availability of funds and absence of legal barriers
for the establishment and operation of the network and its
activities. The Task Force may be strengthened and may consider
setting up a special working group to undertake this function.
The network would operate on a decentralized basis. Agencies
and organizations whose work focuses on particular areas
of concern could organize themselves into a sub-network.
It is envisaged that networking could evolve in response
to emerging needs for exchange in the priority areas for
action listed in section II above. The totality of the sub-networks
would constitute the information and technical exchange
network for the implementation of resolution 48/3.
Furthermore, a number of ESCAP members and associate members
have made notable progress in particular disability-related
areas (e.g., the empowerment of self-help organizations
of persons with disabilities, the production of assistive
devices) over the past Decade. They would be in a position
to serve as lead entities in the development of the sub-networks
by providing secretariat infrastructure and support required
for the operation of the sub-networks.
Each sub-network would assume responsibility for facilitating
advancements in its particular area during the Asian and
Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, especially concerning
the:
(a) Increase in the availability of resources (e.g., technology,
techniques, skills, materials) in the ESCAP region for the
implementation of resolution 48/3 with respect to the particular
priority area;
(b) Facilitation of the exchange of information on that
area;
(c) Support for the strengthening of research and development
methodologies for that area to improve the relevance of
the techniques, technology and material generated to conditions
in the developing countries of the region.
Each lead entity would, in turn, assume primary responsibility
for undertaking activities such as:
(a) Development of a regional information and data base
on technical cooperation needs, resources, potential, on-going
activities, implementation experience and key contact persons;
(b) Initiation of networking arrangements among all agencies
and organizations interested in furthering that particular
priority area;
(c) Ensuring the accessibility of current information on
resources and needs concerning that particular area;
(d) Development of a roster of experienced persons whose
services could, upon request, be called upon to assist countries,
particularly to promote technical cooperation among developing
countries (TCDC) in the implementation of resolution 48/3;
(e) Formulation and implementation of specific technical
cooperation activities that will have a tangible and positive
impact on persons with disabilities in the respective area.
The decentralized nature of the network would facilitate
the funding of its activities through the sharing of the
responsibility among the participants. The lead entities
in particular would bear a major part of the cost of the
activities of their respective sub-networks, as a part of
their contribution to regional cooperation. The possibility
of mobilizing adequate supplementary funding to promote
the effective functioning of the network as a whole may
be explored.
2. Monitoring and review
The ESCAP secretariat should establish, subject to the availability
of resources, an advisory panel of representatives of organizations
of persons with disabilities, and other experts, to monitor
and review the implementation of the agenda for action and
to advise on means of attaining the aims and objectives
of the Decade as enshrined in the Proclamation on the Full
Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities.
The Commission resolution on an Asian and Pacific Decade
of Disabled Persons calls on the Executive Secretary to
submit biennial reports to the Commission until the end
of the Decade on progress made in its implementation. ESCAP
should conduct biennial regional surveys of progress achieved
by the countries and areas of the region, and to convene
biennial meetings of national coordination committees on
disability matters to review achievements and to identify
action that may be required to maintain the momentum of
the Decade. At those meetings, the representatives of national
coordination committees on disability matters would be invited
to present country papers detailing national experience
in pursuance of this agenda for action. Meetings of the
Asia-Pacific Inter-organizational Task Force on Disability-related
Concerns should be convened to review the endeavours of
its members in support of the resolution.
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