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Paper on Best Practices of Collaboration with
Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD)
(Vanuatu - Government Focal Point)

1) Theme:

Partnership and Cooperation with Government, NGOs and various Organizations on Disability

2) Organization:

Disability Promotion & Advocacy Association

Contact Address: P O Box 1378; Port Vila, Vanuatu
Telephone: (678) 25036;
Email: jalynch@vanuatu.com.vu
Contact Person: Andonia Piau-Lynch, National Coordinator

3) Brief Introduction:

The Disability Promotion & Advocacy Association (DPA) was formed in 1999 to advocate for rights and promote abilities of people with disability. It is a voluntary cross-disability NGO registered under the Charitable Organizations Act (CAP 140).

The Secretariat of DPA is located in Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. As of August 2006 it has six community based affiliates located in four out of the six provinces on the country with an estimated membership of 89 people with disability.

There are 8 volunteer advocates based throughout the country who carry out the work to promote rights of people with disability. The members of the Coordinating Committee (like the Board of Directors) are all people with disability and they play a vital part in the organization as role models. One such example is the Mr John Suran, Chair of DPA, who has been Vanuatu's representative at the UN Ad Hoc Committee on the Draft Disability Convention since 2004. The types of advocacy work that is being carried out by DPA include the following:

We carry out general awareness on rights of people with disability in schools, churches, NGOs, Government. One important part of our advocacy has been the tremendous support we have received from the H.E. Kalkot Matas Kelekele, Head of State, who comes to the grass root communities where we hold our meetings (see photos below).

Partnership with Government in promoting the following:

1. Lobby for support of the BMF in the Pacific Region accomplished in 2003.
2. Development of the National Disability Policy accomplished in 2004.
3. Submission to the Ministry for Public Utilities and Infrastructure for Barrier-free access to public environment and amendment to the Building Code in 2004.
4. Lobby to ratify the Land Mine Convention accomplished in 2005
5. Lobby for the ratification of the Optional Protocol to CEDAW in light of the fact that Monitoring sections of the UN Draft Disability Convention has adopted the monitoring process from the Optional Protocol.
6. Lobby for the support to establish the National Disability Committee accomplished in 2006

Partnership with NGOs in promoting the following:

1. Lobby for inclusion of women with disability in mainstream women's organization is ongoing
2. Lobby for the inclusion of women with disability in Vanuatu's CEDAW report accomplished with substantial section in the report as required under the General Recommendation from the UN CEDAW Committee.
3. Lobby for the inclusion of members of DPA in the Vanuatu Association of NGOs (VANGO) which is the umbrella organization of NGOs.
4. Development of self-help groups in the community.

4) Key Persons who collaborated with APCD:

• Andonia Piau-Lynch, National Coordinator
• John Suran, Chair, DPA

5) Activities collaborated with APCD:

In 2005 APCD through Mr Akiie Ninomiya, led the Workshop on the awareness of the BMF to 65 participants in Luganville which is the second largest town in Vanuatu. This workshop empowered participants through Mr Ninomiya's sensitivity and understanding of the participants some of whom had never attended a DPA meeting or workshop. The participants were able to understand the holistic nature of an advocacy organization such as DPA and what each individual's rights and responsibilities were. Through sessions on the ESCAP Decade 2003-2012 and the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action (BMF), the APCD, the Draft Disability Convention and DPA itself, participants were now able to understand fully the structure of the disability organization and movement both nationally, regionally and internationally. Through the public awareness parade through the town, they were further empowered to witness the strength of cooperation and sharing one vision: to promote rights of people with disability and to take responsible actions that will enable them to promote these rights.

In July 2006, DPA translated the BMF into Vanuatu's national language, Bislama, with support from NZAID.

6) Positive Changes (Outcomes) Observed through Collaboration with APCD:

The particular activity supported by APCD helped members to go back to their own villages and communities and as a result, there are now six community based self-help organizations which are officially recognized by DPA as affiliates.

7) Relevant Vision/Plan for the Future:

We have developed and approved a document called "Our Vision 2005-2007" which outlines our programmes for these three years. Included in this document are our plans to promote the 7 BMF Priority Areas.