H. E. Mr. Anutin Charnvirakul, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Public Health of the Royal Thai Government presided over the opening of the "Art for All: All for Health" at the UN Conference Center in Bangkok. UNESCAP Executive Secretary Mr. Kim Hak-Su received an appreciation plaque from the Art for All organization.The five-day camp in Nakorn Nayok province, Thailand brought together children with and without disabilities through integrated programs of visual, performing, and literary arts. Since UNESCAP organized the first art exhibition in 1999, it has expanded to include work from over 400 students and youth both with and without disabilities, who are working with international artists from 10 countries.
This project is based on the idea that harmony and beauty can be created out of human differences. Various types of art forms are used as a medium for students with disabilities to have better self-esteem through exposure to professional artists to motivate them to participate in all aspects of society. Some graduates of the "Art for All" camp have become notable artists in Thailand.
(For more information please visit: www.artforall.or.th)
In resolution 58/246 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, the General Assembly decided that the Ad Hoc Committee should start negotiations on a draft convention at its third session and that, prior to its fifty-ninth session, the Ad Hoc Committee should hold two sessions for the duration of 10 working days each in 2004; it held its 4th session at the United Nations Headquarters from 23 August to 3 September 2004 with 361 participants from 78 member countries. The Ad Hoc Committee concluded the first reading of the draft text of the Convention.
(For further details please visit www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc4.htm)
The Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) World Summit was an opportunity for national assemblies, disability organizations, NGO's, international development agencies, and service providers in the disability field to discuss and share information. The major objective was to promote equality and diversity within the organization. The theme was the diversity of people and cultures with a focus on women, youth, and Indigenous & Arab peoples. Over 30 workshops were held for three days to share collective and individual struggles for social and economic inclusion in civil society. Issues covered were Human Rights, Self-determined Living, Bioethics, Education, Participation, Access, International Development, Sharing the Knowledge, and Local Capacity Building. The Global Disability Village exhibited global disability concerns especially issues on Independent Living, Culture, Entrepreneurship & Sustainable Livelihoods, Models of Learning, and World Research creating a sense of community with participants from both developing and developed countries sharing their research and work on various aspects of disability issues.
(Source: http://summit.dpi.org)
The Baptist Sangha School for Blind Girls in Dhaka, Bangladesh held special training for teachers focusing on Mathematics, Braille and Orientation & Mobility for students with visual impairments. It was organized by the International Council for Education of People with a Visual Impairment.
(For further details please visit www.icevi.org)
There were 3,969 athletes from 136 countries participating in the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games, which included 19 sports. The four "unique" sports at the Paralympic Games were Boccia, Goalball, Powerlifting, and Wheelchair Rugby. China won the most medals with 141 in all, followed by Great Britain and Canada.
The mascot for the 2004 Paralympic Games was a seahorse, Proteas, a divinity of Greek mythology. The name embraces "excellence" as athletes seek to excel by achieving even higher competition performances. The Greek word "protos" means first in rank, excellent. The creator of the mascot searched for an image that would portray the four unique values for the Athens 2004 Paralympic Games: inspiration, strength, pursuit, and celebration.
APCD would like to say CONGRATULATIONS to all athletes for their outstanding wonderful performance, keep up the good work!
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) organized the 2nd Workshop for Improving Disability Statistics and Measurement. Participants were representatives from 18 member countries and other related national, regional, and international organizations.
Discussions focused on the possibilities for standard disability questions in line with International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health for testing in the region, the first step towards developing a set for inclusion into censuses and surveys. The outcome regarding formulation of a question for self care was that self care issues are important and should be included in any standard set of questions. Any such question set should aim to cover the broad spectrum of disability experience including impairments, activities, and participation. The questions developed by each group were compared to four other standard sets some of which had already been tested or been proposed in other countries and contexts.
A proposal that resource persons together with the UNESCAP and United Nations Statistics Division develop two sets of questions suitable for testing and taking the conclusions of the Washington Group into consideration was accepted. Testing procedures, schedules, and protocols would also be worked out by the resource persons in coordination with the countries interested in testing a set of questions.
(For more information please visit: www.unescap.org/stat/meet)
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific and the National Statistical Office Thailand co-hosted the Fourth Meeting of the Washington Group on Disability Statistics. The Washington Group, has been mandated to develop general disability measures for use in censuses and sample surveys, and recommend survey items to measure disabilities or principles for their design. The objectives of the meeting were to: Present a draft on general disability measure, discuss the position paper on proposed methods for implementing the general disability measure, methodological issues relating to full population coverage, a position paper on a proposed approach for development of extended measurement sets related to the general disability measure and, strategy issues including the identification of the next steps.
The objective is to provide participants with basic skills, knowledge, and experience to enable them to set up Computerized Braille Production Centers to increase the production of reading materials in Braille for the blind through the library network.
(For more information please visit www.worldenable.net/convention2004)
(For more information please visit www.worldenable.net/bmf2004)
The objective is to equip participants with an appropriate attitude, knowledge, and skills to emerge as leaders to facilitate a disability movement in their respective communities throughout the country.
(Source: www.worldenable.net/cdpf2004)
(For further information please visit www.icevi.org)
Source: www.worldbank.org/disability
(For further information please visit www.wbucapetown2004.org.za)
The Bangladesh Protibondhi Foundation, Foundation for the Developmentally Disabled, Shishu Bikash Network, and the Child Development Network are organizing this Seminar, focusing on the holistic social perspective for children with disabilities.
