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    • Capacity-Building for Self-Help Organizations of Persons with Disabilities (CBSHOD)
    • Port Moresby Declaration
    • ICT for All: Training of ICT for Persons with Print Disability
    • Refresher Training to Strengthen Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR)
    • Interview with WHO's Focal Point for CBR
    • International Conference on Tsunami Preparedness of Persons with Disabilities
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APCD Counterpart Training in Japan
4 - 10 March 2007

Counterpart Training on Information Management and Networking

Ms. Manassawee Rawiwan, APCD Information Support Officer, attended the Counterpart Training on Information Management and Networking in Tokyo. The course objectives were to understand information management for NGOs and to study the way to collect/disseminate information for outstanding information activities for Associate Organisation of APCD.

APCD counterpart visited five organisations that work of/for persons with disabilities, that are, Japan National Assembly of Disabled Peoples' International (DPI -Japan), Japanese Society for Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities (JSRPD), Japan Federation of the Deaf (JFD), Japan Council on Independent Living Centers (JIL) and Tokyo Voluntary Action Center to learn such on information support activities for disabled people organisation, guarantee of information for persons with disabilities, and the role of information centre.

The knowledge and experience from the counterpart training is beneficial to develop APCD Information Support more efficiently. Some methods such as having various channels in sending/receiving of information, both in online and offline, can be adapted to the utilisation of existing information as well as responded to the needs of persons with disabilities on information more widely and directly. These could be a tool to guarantee of information and reducing barriers through information for persons with disabilities as the objective of APCD to promote empowerment of persons with disabilities and a barrier-free society.

Counterpart Training on Management of Independent Living Centers
for Persons with Disabilities and Their Council

Ms. Nanta Sampinong, Nakorn Prothom Independent Living Center, had a chance to go to Japan from 3 - 17 March 2007 for the counterpart training on Management of Independent Living Centers for Persons with Disabilities and Their Council. This was the first-ever counterpart training for disabled persons.

Council of Independent Living (CIL) in Japan has a good management system to ensure that all disabled persons obtain their social welfare according to their rights and level of severity of their disability. As for severely disabled persons who cannot support themselves, they will get Personal Assistant (PA) service financially supported by the local government.

The opportunity of equality is approachable because of the strength of disabled persons and CIL, which brings about changes at policy level of the government who enacts law and legislation to decentralize administrative powers to local governments in order to provide equal opportunity to not only disabled persons but elderly citizens, women and children.

The social equalization stems from disabled persons learning from disabled role models and exchanging experiences of peer counseling. This will help bring back self-confidence and form a disabled peoples' group and finally become CIL. CIL will serve and meet the needs of disabled persons and reintegrate them to the society. Then social participation will happen. Disabled persons themselves, their families, their communities and society will also change the way they regard or view disability. More importantly, social participation of disabled persons will benefit all. Therefore, disabled persons are social investment, which will bring about growth in all aspects, not only materialism but spiritualism as well.