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Mission to Santo & Port Villa

13 - 19 March 2005

The Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD) sent a mission to the Republic of Vanuatu from 13-19 March 2005 to attend and support the National Workshop "Towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free, and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities" held at Chief Nakamal in Luganville, Santo, Vanuatu from 14-17 March 2005. It was organized by the Disability Promotion and Advocacy Association (DPA) and co-supported by APCD. Twenty-nine participants from Torba, Sanma, Luganville, Malampa, and Shefa joined the workshop.

Mr. John Suran, Chairman of the Disability Promotion & Advocacy Association stated in his welcome address at of the opening ceremony: "Our Government and people should be aware of the move to have people with disabilities recognized and included in mainstream development. Bringing disabled people from our six provinces out of closed doors, back alleys and corners of rural and urban areas to empower them to be able to succeed in the active center of national life, will greatly improve the lives of many who are living in a deprived society and conditions today. Disabled people have the skills, knowledge and ability; they are capable of playing a more important and effective role in society if they are given the chance to prove themselves in the future. So lets look forward to hearing how we can work together towards promoting the well being of people with disabilities".

His Excellency, President Kalkot Mataskelekele, who presided over the opening of the workshop emphasized that "a significant number of persons with disabilities are still living in poverty, unemployed, uneducated and excluded from mainstream society." He also mentioned that "the Government has played a significant role in promoting and supporting persons with disabilities in Vanuatu and the region and must therefore be congratulated for adopting the National Disability Policy as a direct result of its commitment for implementing the action plans in the Biwako Millennium Framework (BMF) Plan of Action".

The workshop emphasized the following issues:

1. Awareness Raising March & Activities at Unity Park.
2. Disability Issues from Global to Local; Exchange of Experiences in Activities in Promoting Empowerment for PWDs Between the Delegates and Stakeholders.
   • Disability & the UN
   • Disability & Advocacy
3. Regional Actions to Promote the Rights of PWDs
4. Seven Priority Areas of the BMF: Delegates were divided into groups by provinces to brainstorm ideas for implementation plans towards the 7 priority areas.
5. Implementation Strategies made by National, Provincial, and Local Governments, NGOs, Vanuatu Society for Disabled People, VANDISPORTS, and DPA.
6. APCD Recommendations for BMF Priority 6: Access to Information and Communication including information, communication, and assistive technologies
7. Presentation on Special Education
8. SANTO Statement: Recommendations from the National Training Workshop toward an Inclusive, Barrier-free & Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities.

Apart from attending the workshop, the mission met with the Secretary to the 1st Advisor of the Prime Minister, to follow-up with the network and collaboration on disability issues in Vanuatu.