Annex II (d)

Women with disabilities (WWD)

The Task Force on Women with Disabilities was held on 1 December 2004, attended by 8 participants, and chaired by Aiko Akiyama. A provisional list of participants is attached.

1. The Chairperson presented the provisional agenda as follows:

1. Opening
2. Introduction of participants
3. Adoption of minutes of the previous meeting
4. Reports on relevant activities to date
4.1 From the chairperson:
1) A report on Asia-Pacific NGO Forum 2004 on Beijing+10
2) A report of the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Review Regional Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and its Regional and Global Outcomes.
3) A report on WWD Asia-Pacific Network
4.2 From participants:
1) An e-report from Australia
2) An e-report from India on "Equity of Women with Disabilities in India"
3) Reports from other participants
5. Action plans for year 2005 and others
6. Other matters:
- Selection of new task force coordinator on WWD
7. Closing
The participants approved this agenda.

2. The Chairperson reported on the Asia-Pacific NGO Forum 2004 on Beijing+10, held at Mahidol University, Bangkok, 30 June -3 July 2004. Task Force members participated and a submitted a summary statement of issues of women with disabilities and a set of recommendations. The participants of the Task Force pointed out that follow up action to make and to implement its action plan would be important.

3. The Chairperson reported on the achievement made at the High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Review Regional Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action, held Bangkok, 7-9 September 2004. The immediate objectives were to raise awareness on issues on disabled women amongst policy-makers in gender development field and to reflect their concerns in an expected outcome document, which in turn, was expected to be brought up in a discussion table at the Commission on the Status of Women, to be held in New York in March 2005. The Meeting was attended by more than 400 policy makers and experts from 44 member states in the Asian and Pacific region.

Three representatives from the Task Force (blind, physically disabled, non-disabled women) participated in, read the Statement (which was formulated by the Task Force)), and distributed a Statement by women with disabilities in the Pacific region at the Meeting (please see the attached statement). In the outcome report, a specific paragraph was inserted on women with disabilities. It described deprivation of self-esteem faced by women with disabilities from early childhood and access to health services, and CEDAW disability-specific General Recommendations #18 and #24. This insertion was made possible thanks to lobbying done by the Task Force participants to the Government participants of Thailand and Pakistan.

The Task Force agreed that the through this occasion, members have done a reasonably good job; but felt a need for more participation of WWD or PWD in this type of meeting or any type of disability non-specific meeting held at UN and elsewhere. WWD issues are generally unrecognized for various reasons. The Task Force reaffirmed the importance of taking actions to influence gender policy makers, and agreed upon the following action plans;

1) Ms Nareewan, newly elected Chair of RI in the AP region, will approach Thai National Council on Women on the TF activities and discusses possible joint activities such as for the International Women’s Day (8March);
2) Ms Farida continues to work with women’s community in Bangladesh and sends a new movie on WWD to the TF for future activities;
3) Ms Nareewan will ensure sustainable development of a subcommittee on WWD within the structure of RI Asia and the Pacific, and will include a thematic session on WWD at the RI Asia and Pacific regional conference (to be held 29 November to 2 December 2006).

4. The Task Force members discussed other advocacy venues (i.e., sending a questionnaire to candidates prior to Thai election on WWD issues).

5. Participation in online chat at a DPI site and a Women Watch site was encouraged. The addresses are as follows: http://www.dpi.org/en/resources/topics/women/11-18-04_beijing.htm, http://www.un.org/womenwatch/forums/review/

6. The Task Force members raise the following issues as important agenda for future activities:
1) Actions have to be taken on concerns and support needs of mothers (fathers) of disabled family members;
2) Dissemination of information on online basis is really important. Sending information on this TF should be sent to a site such as Women Watch.
3) Women in rural areas lack access to this kind of information.
4) Pensions for (WWD) are used by other family members other than herself.

7. The Task Force members agreed that Ms Farida Yesmin, Executive Director, Disabled Rehabilitation & Research Association (DRRA), Bangladesh, will be a new coordinator of the TF on a condition that she comes once a year.

8. The meeting was adjourned.

Appendix 1

Statement for High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Review Regional

Implementation of the Beijing Platform for Action and its Regional and Global
Outcomes

7-10 September 2004

by

Task Force on Women with Disabilities Thematic Working Group on Disability-

related Concerns (TWG-DC)

On behalf of the Task Force on Women with Disabilities of the Thematic Working Group on Disability-related Concerns (TWG-DC), we would like to share concerns of women with disabilities with all of the distinguished participants at High-level Intergovernmental Meeting to Review Regional Implementation of the Beijing Platform of Action and its Regional and Global Outcomes. The Task Force is composed by representatives of the Governments, NGOs and concerned United Nations agencies, aimed at promoting the implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and rights-based Society (BMF), the regional policy-guideline for the 2nd Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012), especially, from the view points of women with disabilities.

Women and girls with disabilities face double jeopardy through their status as women and as a person with disabilities. They continued to be excluded from access to health care, social protection schemes, education, employment and enjoyment of all human rights. According to the BMF, in the Asian and Pacific region, an estimated 400 million persons with disabilities live, of which more than 40 per cent live in poverty and less than 10 percent have access to any form of education. In many countries, unemployment rate of persons with disabilities are 70 per cent. Though they are no region wide gender –specific data available in these regards, one can imagine the extent of conditions women and girls live in this region.

Women with disabilities face many barriers in realizing their potential. From childhood, many of them are deprived of their self-determination, become victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse in institution and work place. They were denied of family life. Until not so long ago, it was not so uncommon to hear of forced sterilization of them, and not given any reproductive care. Maternal rights of disabled women have been denied due to their disability. Because of disability, many women cannot get job even when they are qualified. There are few representatives of women with disabilities both in women’s organizations and disabled people’s organizations. Certain cultural practices might increase the risk of causing disabilities in women.

To solve the problems, mainstreaming of disabled women’s issues in disability policy and projects, mainstreaming of their issues in women’s policy and projects, empowerment of women with disabilities, and demystifying stereotypes against women with disabilities are essential at the national, regional and international levels. Establishing reliable data on different areas of disabled women’s life would support these efforts.

General Recommendation #18 of the Convention of the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Woman (CEDAW) mentions need to take measures in the areas of employment, education, health services and social security for disabled women. Its General Recommendation 24 mentions special attention to health needs and rights of women with disabilities. The target 3 of the Biwako Millennium Framework, mentioned above, call Governments in the region to ensure, by 2005, anti-discrimination measures including women with disabilities, and the Target 5 calls for national mainstream women’s associations to include, by 2005, women with disabilities as members. We should like to share that fact that, currently, a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities are formulated, and issues of women with disabilities are concerns of many Governments and NGOs.

We, members of the Task Force on Women with Disabilities, would like to call for further commitments of Governments, in collaboration with NGOs and UN agencies, to better life of women with disabilities. We hope the final outcome document of this Meeting will include these concerns mentioned here, and these concerns become more visible both at the regional and international arenas. Thank you very much.

Websites for reference:

Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 2003-2012, Biwako Millennium Framework http://www.unescap.org/esid/psis/disability/index.asp

Human Rights and Disability
http://www.sre.gob.mx/discapacidad/paperunhchr.htm

Women with disabilities
http://www.worldenable.net/women

International Convention on disability
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/adhoccom.htm

Please contact Ms Supattraporn Tanatikom (Chairperson of the Task Force on Women with Disabilities) at sarahmai@ksc.th.com or Ms Aiko Akiyama at akiyama@un.org (Coordinator for the Task Force, UNESCAP) for further questions and comments.

List of the Participants

No. Name Organization Email address
1 Ms Farida Yesmin
DRRA sila@dhaka.agni.com 2 Ms Shushira Chonhenchob HI bkkdd@thailand-hi.org 3 Ms Treeyarak Meebutpakdee VSO Thailand treeyarak@inet.co.th 4 Ms Sawart Pramoonsilp The Association for Career Advancement of the Blind

5 Ms Aiko Akiyama UNESCAP akiyama@un.org 6 Ms Nareewan Chintakanond
RI nareewan@nscwt.or.th, infogit@asiaacess.net.th

7 Ms Phoranee Louineau
PAII
wandeech@mweb.co.th8 Ms Anita Louineau PAII wandeech@mweb.co.th

Annex II (e)

Self-help Organizations (SHOs)

1. The Task Force on Self-help organizations was held on 1 December 2004, attended by 8 participants, and chaired by Aiko Akiyama. A provisional list of participants is attached.

2. A representative from the APCD reported on its “Training of Initiators of Self-help Groups (SHG) of Persons with Disabilities towards Rights-based and Sustainable Community Development," held from 10 to 30 August 2004. This intends to initiate grass-roots formation of self-help groups in three targeted countries, namely, Cambodia, Myanmar and Thailand. 6-7 participants (stakeholders in a community) were chosen from each country. Question was raised as to why fewer number of countries in the training. It was deliberately designed so to ensure the follow-up formation SHG. After the training, a mission team will visit a respective country and assess the post-training development by interviews and questionnaires. APCD approaches development of SHG, as a part of Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) or community development. In a lot of areas in the AP region, one cannot just spot PWDs in a community where others face problems of income generation, access to safe and clean water etc., Comprehensive development of a given community which duly includes PWDS as decision-makers is important.

3. UNESCAP Secretariat explained proposed indicators to measure the BMF targets implementations in the area of self-help organizations, related family and parent association. These indicators were discussed and proposed in the Regional Workshop on Monitoring the Implementation of the BMF held in October. From the subsequent discussions, participants agreed that binominal indicators to ask whether Government has a relevant policy should be merely the first step. Indicators have to be comprehensive to ask finer parts of implementation of the policy.

The Task Force members agreed on this point and shared an example of Thailand. Thailand has a policy to support DPO, with a mechanism, “Rehabilitation Fund.” However, the total budget is 25 million baht (up from 20 million baht last year) which is totally insufficient to support all the DPOs in Thailand. This begs a question on how one can measure adequacy of a budgetary allocation for a certain issue.

4. Participants were with a view that Governments support to DPO should not be a charity-based. It should be development-based to ultimately make DPOs and PWDs contributors of a society. DPOs also should be creative to think of ways to get more fund themselves. For example, they can develop themselves as a service provider and have a subcontract relation with a Government.

5. Participants discussed on what it means by “self-help” and how we approach towards a description such as “some disabled people cannot make decisions themselves. Thus they need help.” One issue is how one can know whether one disabled person can make or cannot make decisions. Three different approaches were mentioned. At any rate, participants agreed that, in the first place, disabled individual’s dignity should be respected, and that supporting a disabled individual who “ cannot make decisions” and representing him/her are different concepts and behaviors. While supporting intends to assist the individuals, representation can lead to misrepresentation or abuse in worst cases. Discussion extended to an article 9 of a present draft on an international convention. The article touches upon an adequacy of legal representation of persons with disabilities.

6. The Meeting was adjourned.

List of the Participants

No. Name Organization Email address

1 Ms Jirat Wachirasereechai
APCD jirat@apcdproject.org 2 Ms Nareewan Chintakanond
RI nareewan@nscwt.or.th, infogit@asiaacess.net.th

3 Mr Pat Watanasin Ministry of Social Development and Human Security
patwatanasin@yahoo.com 4 Lasapan Toomsawasdi APCD lasapan@apcdproject.org 5 Mr Monthian Buntan TAB mbuntan@tab.or.th 6 Ms Kannikar Sittisak VSO Thailand kannikar.sithisak@vsoint.org 7 Ms Phoranee Louineau
PAII
wandeech@mweb.co.th8 Ms Anita Louineau PAII wandeech@mweb.co.th