ANNEXES
ANNEX
I: LIST OF THE PARTICIPANTS
ANNEX
II: DRAFT MINUTES
OF THE TASK FORCES HELD AT THE TENTH SESSION OF THE THEMATIC WORKING
GROUP ON DISABILITY-RELATED CONCERNS (TWG-DC)
Annex II (a): Education for All Children and Youth with Disabilities
(EFA)
Annex II (b): Employment and Poverty Alleviation
Annex II (c): Information and Communications Technology (ICT)
Annex II (d): Women with Disabilities (WWD)
Annex II (e): Proposed International Convention on Persons with
Disabilities
ANNEX
III: PRESENTATION ENTITLED "DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF TIMOR-LESTE-NATIONAL
POLICY ON ADVANCEMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT
-AN OVERVIEW"
ANNEX IV: PRESENTATION
ENTITLED "PROPOSED STEPS FOR BIWAKO+5: FORWARD-LOOKING STRATEGIES
FOR THE 2ND HALF OF THE DECADE"
I. OPENING OF THE MEETING
Thelma Kay, Director, Emerging Social issues Division (ESID)
of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission (UNESCAP),
opened the Tenth Session of the Thematic Working Group on Disability-related
Concerns (TWG-DC) with a welcome statement.
Ms Thelma Kay first extended her sincere gratitude to the participants
who had already made significant contributions to the two workshops
which were successfully completed immediately prior to the current
TWG-DC Session. These workshops are "Workshop on Community-Based
Rehabilitation (CBR) and Poverty Alleviation of Persons with Disabilities,"
organized by UNESCAP, and "Unlocking Potential: Multinational
Corporation Roundtable on Disability and Employment," organized
by the TWG-DC Task Force on employment and poverty alleviation.
Ms Kay pointed out that the most recent UNESCAP resolution 61/8
of 18 May 2005 was significant since it provides a clear mandate
to organize a three-day high-level intergovernmental meeting in
2007 for the midpoint review of the implementation of the Biwako
Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrie-free
and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia
and the Pacific (BMF).
Ms Kay explained that the main objective of the current TWG-DC
session was to actively involve the participants in a process
towards the midpoint high-level intergovernmental meeting on the
proposed UNESCAP strategy, entitled "Biwako plus 5: forward
Looking Strategies for the Second Half of the Decade."
Ms Kay concluded her speech by reaffirming our continued commitments
for the rest of the Decade.
The Tenth Session of the TWG-DC was chaired by the appointed
chairperson, Mr Wim Polan of Food and Agriculture Organization
of the United Nations (FAO). It was attended by some 80 participants.
The list of participants is attached as Annex I.
II. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
The TWG-DC adopted the following agenda.
A. Meetings of Task Forces:
- Education of All Children and Youth with Disabilities
(EFA);
- Employment and Poverty Alleviation;
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT);
- Women with Disabilities and Self-help Organizations
of Persons with Disabilities(SHOs);
- Proposed International Convention on Persons with
Disabilities;
B. Plenary session:
- Tenth Session of the Thematic Working Group on Disability-related
Concerns (TWG-DC), plenary session.
- Adoption of the Agenda.
- Confirmation of Minutes of the Eighth Session of the TWG-DC,
held 1-2 December 2004.
- Task Force action reports.
- Reports of the Workshop on Community-Based Rehabilitation
(CBR) for Poverty Alleviation (Bangkok 5 July 2005) and a Multinational
Cooperation Roundtable on Disability and Employment (Bangkok,
6 July 2005), co-sponsored by UNESCAP and ILO.
- Proposed Steps towards Biwako +5: Forward Looking Strategies
for the 2nd Half of the Decade at the Intergovernmental Meeting
on the mid-point review of the BMF (2007) (UNESCAP).
- Other matters.
A. Meetings of Task Forces:
- Employment and Poverty Alleviation
- Education of All Children and Youth with Disabilities
(EFA)
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
- Women with Disabilities
- Self-help Organizations of Persons with Disabilities
(SHOs)
- Post Conflict Countries
- Proposed International Convention on Persons with
Disabilities
B. Plenary session:
- Ninth session of the Thematic Working Group on Disability-related
Concerns (TWG-DC), plenary session
- Adoption of the Agenda
- Confirmation of Minutes of the Eighth Session of the TWG-DC,
held 15-16 June 2004
- Task Force action reports
- Evaluation of achievements and shortcomings of UNESCAP activities
by members of the TWG-DC and the proposed UNESCAP future work
towards the mid-point review (2007) of the Asian and Pacific
Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012)
- Reports on the UNESCAP/ APDF Workshop on Regional Follow-up
to the Third and Fourth Sessions of the Ad Hoc Committee on
a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on Protection
and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
(11-12 October 2004, UNCC, Bangkok)
- Matters concerning the planned APDF General Assembly in 2005
and the 11th Session of the TWG-DC
- Reports on the planned activities in observance of the International
Day of Disabled Persons, to be held on 3 December 2004, UNCC,
Bangkok
- Reports of future activities (ILO, CBM/ICEVI)
- Other matters
III. CONFIRMATION OF THE MINUTES OF THE
EIGTH SESSION OF THE TWG-DC
The minutes of the Ninth Session of the TWG-DC, held in Bangkok,
from 1 to 2 December 2004, were adopted with minor amendments.
IV. TASK FORCE ACTION REPORTS
Brief reports were presented from the seven Task Forces listed
in the agenda. Full Task Force minutes are presented in the Annex
II.
a. Education for All Children and Youth
with Disabilities (EFA)
The Task Force members reported on activities they had either
attended or initiated during the last six months. The activities
included Tsunami damage assessment by the Christoffel-Blindenmission
(CBM), translation of UNESCO toolkit for inclusive education in
different languages, and UNESCO ongoing project to develop a "Manual
for Action to Include Children with Disabilities in School System".
The Task Force proposed that the current Task Force and the regional
Flagship Working Group on the Right to Education for Persons with
Disabilities were to be merged as one entity with a reason that
goals and strategies of the two groups seemed identical. The Task
Force further proposed its own name change reflecting the merge.
However, UNESCAP secretariat showed some reservation because the
merge had both substantive and structural ramifications for the
Task Force, whose activities are open-ended by nature. Thus further
clarifications of the proposal were requested and the detailed
discussion would take place at the next Eleventh Session of the
TWG-DC.
b. Employment and Poverty Alleviation
The Task Force reported on two workshops, which it organized and
was completed immediately prior to the current TWG-DC Session;
1) Workshop on Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) and Poverty
Alleviation of Persons with Disabilities (5 July 2005, Bangkok)
and Unlocking Potential: a Multinational Corporation Roundtable
on Disability and Employment (6 July 2005, Bangkok).
The CBR Workshop's was attended by approximately 90 participants
including policy-makers, CBR practitioners and representatives
from disabled people's organizations. They agreed upon the "Joint
Statement on CBR and Other Community Initiatives for Poverty Alleviation
among Persons with Disabilities" at the end of the Workshop.
The Statement delineates "Forming self-help groups should
be encouraged in the process of CBR as role models and peer support
are essential and effective for empowerment of persons with disabilities
in the community." The secretariat informed that, building
on the outcome of the Workshop, UNESCAP and China Disabled Persons
Federation (CDPF) would co-organize a Field Study cum Regional
Workshop on Capacity Building of Grassroots Self-help Groups of
Persons with Disabilities in Local Communities in Chendgu, Sichuan
Province, China, 16-18 August 2005.
The Roundtable was attended by approximately 90 participants from
multinational companies, disability policy-making bodies and disabled
people's organizations. Task Force members, who had attended,
shared their feedbacks on the Roundtable. Follow-up actions recommended
by the Roundtable included continuing dialogue and exchange among
the participants to collect more good practices on employment
of persons with disabilities, replication of the multi-stakeholder
roundtable at a national level, development of "the Resource
Manuals for Employers" and formation of regional network
of employers.
c. Information and Communications Technology
(ICT)
The Task Force reported on recent developments and planned activities
in this area. One of the future activities, which was considered
highly significant, was the Second World Summit for Information
Society (WSIS), to be held in Tunis, Tunisia, from 16 to 18 November
2005. Mr Monthian Buntan, the Chairperson of the Task Force, was
expected to participate in this Summit to further mainstream disability
perspectives in the discussions and expected outcome document.
The Task Force reported on its discussion on promotion of BMF
implementation in the relevant five targets. The Task Force was
of a view that many of the targets had not been achieved yet.
However, members also recognized that many countries in the region
now had developed their own national sign languages, which reflected
the achievement of the BMF target 19.
The Task Force was of a view that a regional survey on access
to information and communications should be conducted in order
to accurately assess the implementation of the relevant BMF targets.
This survey results would supplement information derived from
the UNESCAP BMF survey which has been distributed since 2004.
According to the proposal UNESCAP, the Japanese Society for Rehabilitation
of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD) and the Task Force would
collaborate to conduct the proposed survey. The proposal was unanimously
agreed by the plenary session and will be implemented as follows:
- The Task Force members will formulate questionnaire;
- UNESCAP will disseminate the questionnaire to Governments/NGOs
in the region, and the replies will be forwarded to a focal
point at JSPRD;
- JSPRD will be responsible for analysis of the data and production
of a research paper.
d. Women with disabilities (WWD)
The Task Force reported on its discussion on mainly three topics:
incorporating disabled women's issues into mainstream gender activities;
the proposed international convention on disability and implementation
of the relevant BMF targets.
The Task Force reported that a UNICEF representative made a presentation
on its initiatives on girl's education. The Task Force felt that
girls and women with disabilities should be appropriately incorporated
into its activities.
In relationship to the target 5 of the BMF, it was decided that
an official letter would be sent from the Task Force to Ms Thelma
Kay, Director of ESID requesting to incorporate issues of women
with disabilities in the Thematic Working Group on Women's Empowerment
and Gender Equality, organized by the Gender and Development Section
of ESID. It was also decided that Task Force would submit recommendations
to the UNICEF meeting to be held in Paris later this year, to
incorporate disabled women's perspectives.
As for the ongoing negotiation process of the international convention
on disability, the Task Force strongly felt that the there should
be a separate and independent article on women with disabilities
in the draft text.
Some Task Force members reported on achievements of the relevant
BMF targets. For example, in Bangladesh, the National Forum of
Organizations Working with the Disabled (NFOWD), a coalition of
NGOs in disability field, has a policy to mainstream women with
disabilities in the activities and has been appropriately translating
it into practice. The Disability Discrimination Ordinance in Hong
Kong, China, established in 1995, covers women with disabilities,
and the law is sufficiently enforced. The Task Force held a view
that the target 3 of the BMF on establishment of anti-discrimination
measure on women with disabilities was already achieved in Hong
Kong, China.
e. Self-help Organizations (SHOs)
For the first time, representatives from Samoa and Solomon Islands
participated in the meeting and reported on the recent developments
in each country. The Task Force was informed that Solomon Islands
had completed drafting of its national policy on disability (2005-2010),
and had started drafting relevant legislation.
The Task Force had a discussion on the implementation of the BMF
targets under priority area 1 on Self-help Organizations (SHOs).
UNESCAP secretariat informed that the regional workshop on the
BMF in 2006 would focus on this particular area.
f. Proposed International Convention on
Persons with Disabilities
The Task Force first reported on two forthcoming meetings on the
convention to be organized by UNESCAP: Workshop on Regional Follow-up
to the Fifth Session and Preparation for the Sixth Session of
the Ad Hoc Committee on International Convention on the Protection
and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities
(26-27 July 2005, Bangkok) and a side event on international cooperation
(11 August 2005) during the Sixth Session of the Ad Hoc Committee.
The Task Force reported progress made during the Fifth Session
of the Ad Hoc Committee and expected deliberation during its Six
Session. Government's negotiation over the articles from 7 to
15 was completed, so at the Six Session, negotiation over the
articles from 16 to 25 was expected to take place. The Task Force
also reported that there was growing uncertainty over the timing
of the completion of the convention drafting process and impact
of the UN structural reform on the content of the draft.
Lastly, the Task Force reported on examples of national level
efforts made to promote the international convention, namely,
from Bangladesh, Australia, the Philippines and Thailand.
g. Post-conflict Countries
Though the Task Force was not convened this time, Mr Laurentino
Guterres of KATILOSA, a disability NGO from Timor Leste made a
presentation on the recent development of national policy in the
country (please see the Annex III for a copy of the presentation).
The plenary session was informed that the policy was developed
with a help of a USAID-funded consultant, and with consultation
of multiple Government agencies, civil society organizations and
persons with disabilities representing all of the 13 districts
in the country. In this process, persons with disabilities accounted
for more than 40 per cent. The drafted policy is now submitted
to the Council of Ministers for the endorsement.
V. REPORTS FROM THE WORKSHOP ON COMMUNITY-BASED
REHABILIATION (CBR) FOR POVERTY ALLEVIATION (BANKOK, 5 JULY 2005)
AND A MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION ROUNDTABLE ON DISABILITY AND EMPLOYMENT
(BANGKOK 6 JULY 2005), CO-SPONSORED BY UNESCAP AND ILO
Following a report made by the Task Force on employment and Poverty
Alleviation, the plenary participants further exchanged information
and views on the contents and follow-up activities on the two
meetings. The plenary session held a view that both of the two
meetings were successful.
VI. PROPOSED STEPS FOR BIWAKO+5: FORWARD-LOOKING
STRATEGIES FOR THE 2ND HALD OF THE DECADEB AT THE INTER-GOVERNMENTALMEETING
ON THE MID-POINT REVIEW OF THE BMF (2007) (UNESCAP)
The secretariat made a presentation on its proposed steps for
Biwako +5: Forward-Looking Strategies for the 2nd Half of the
Decade at the Intergovernmental Meeting on the Mid-point Review
of the BMF (2007) (please see the Annex IV for a copy of the presentation).
First, the secretariat reiterated the importance of the three-day
high-level intergovernmental meeting in 2007, which was mandated
in the UNESCAP resolution 61/8 of 18 May 2005, and which would
be the culminating point to establish strategies for the 2nd half
of the Decade. Then, the secretariat proposed that TWG-DC participants
be actively involving in the process of the drafting the strategies
online and through a number of reviewing processes between now
and 2007. The secretariat presented a prepared text with a set
of key issues for the participants to brainstorm ideas. Formation
of four thematic working groups was also recommended to work on
specific aspects of the strategies.
The plenary session unanimously agreed upon the proposed process
and the formation of the working groups. Some participants at
the plenary already nominated themselves to be members of the
working groups. UNESCAP secretariat will communicate with all
the members of the TWG-DC on this agreement online, seeking for
wider membership of the working groups and encouraging the first
review process at the forthcoming regional workshop on national
action plan on disability, to be held from 19 to 21 October 2005.
VII. MATTERS CONCERNING THE PLANNED APDF
GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN 2005 AND THE 11TH SESSION OF THE TWG-DC
On behalf of the APDF, Mr Graham Smith of Disability Australia
presented the most updated plan on the Second General Assembly
(GA) of the APDF to be held Melbourne, Australia, November 2005.
According to the presentation, the proposed APDF GA will be from
19 to 21. The Task Forces of the 11th Session of the TWG-DC will
be incorporated in the agenda of the GA. On 22 November 2005,
plenary session of the 11th Session of the TWG-DC will be held.
As indicated in the section V, participants of the TWG-DC agreed
to add a session on the BMF review and revision as a part of the
agenda, after the GA.
VIII. OTHER MATTERS
On behalf of the Asian and Pacific Disability Forum (APDF), Mr
J.B. Munro informed on the recent progress made regarding the
APDF 2nd General Meeting. According to Mr Munro, the Meeting will
be held from 24 to 27 June 2006 in Melbourne, Australia, with
support provided by various Governmental agencies and NGOs such
as Disability Australia. This Meeting will be held in conjunction
with the TWG-DC session.
It was announced and agreed that there would be no more session
of the TWG-DC in 2005. Thus the next 11th Session of the TWG-DC
would be the one to be held with this Meeting in Australia.
