Distinguished participants
and colleagues,
On behalf of the United Nations Economic and
Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP),
I am very pleased to welcome you all to Bangkok
for the First Workshop for Improving Disability
Statistics and Measurement.
This Workshop is the first of a series of training
activities planned under the project “Improvement
of disability statistics and measurement in
support of the Biwako Millennium Framework”,
newly designed by ESCAP and supported by its
members and associate members at the first session
of the Subcommittee on Statistics in February
2004. I would like to express my sincere appreciation
to the World Health Organization as well as
to the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare,
which have provided resource persons for this
Workshop and committed themselves to do so for
the remaining activities. I should also like
to thank the Governments and their representatives
who have agreed to participate in this project
as well as those who are attending this Workshop
using their own funds.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In May 2002, in Otsu City, Japan, countries
in the region adopted the Biwako Millennium
Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free
and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities
in Asia and the Pacific (BMF). This Framework
reminded all Governments in Asia and the Pacific
of the urgent need to establish national integrated
information systems on disability and requested
that such systems be developed by 2005. It also
urged countries to use common definitions and
methodologies in developing their disability
statistics.
In response to this call, in September 2003
ESCAP organized a regional Workshop on Improving
Disability Data for Policy Use, which inspired
the design and formulation of this project.
The Workshop introduced the new International
Classification of Functioning, Disability and
Health (ICF) and discussed national practices
in disability data collection in many countries.
The participants in the Workshop agreed that
national statistics on disability should rely
on the ICF framework, which uses a definition
of disability based on activity limitations,
in order to improve the quality and comparability
of data as well as their policy relevance.
Currently, the data on disability available
in the region are collected according to an
impairment-based approach which allows only
the more severely disabled persons to be accounted
for. ICF introduces a multidimensional and dynamic
approach to human disablement. According to
ICF, disability is seen as a dynamic interaction
between health conditions and other personal
factors, such as age, sex, personality or level
of education on the one hand and social and
physical environmental factors on the other
hand. A person’s health condition is therefore
a result not only of body structures and functions,
but is also influenced by the surrounding environment,
which may have a positive or negative impact
on basic activities and social participation.
The ICF-based statistics on disability are thus
more appropriate for policy makers and will
contribute to a better assessment of the process
of equalizing opportunities for persons with
disabilities. This approach will also lead to
improved monitoring of the implementation of
BMF.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am confident that this Workshop will greatly
advance your knowledge of ICF and other international
standards and principles recommended for disability
data collection and hence lead to improved disability
data and information. I also hope that the action
plans you will prepare during this Workshop
will act as road maps for applying the ICF framework
in your data collection work.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend
my deep gratitude to the Government of the Republic
of Korea for its generous financial support
to this project.
I wish you every success in your workshop activity
and a pleasant stay in Bangkok.
Thank you. |
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