APCD Training Courses > Training Courses 2005 > Seminar for South-to-South Cooperation for Decades of People with Disabilities: an Orientation to APCD > Report

Report

The UNESCAP/APCD Seminar for South-to-South Cooperation for Decades of People with Disabilities was an epoch-making seminar held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, from 28-29 July 2005.

It was the first inter-regional Seminar to have all South regions, Africa, Arab, Asia and the Pacific, South America and the Caribbean Countries participate to exchange information and empower each other.

The objectives of the Seminar were to:

establish and strengthen a collaborative relationship with APCD by enhancing understanding of APCD and the new Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012); and
gain insights to develop the new Decade by sharing experiences/achievements through the past Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002) among invited representatives from the Asia-Pacific region and from other regions.

The Seminar was opened by H.E. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand. H. E. Dr. Surakiart Sathirathai(middle), Mrs. Panita Kambhu, Mr. Mikiharu Sato, Mr. Shigeru Mochida, and Ms. Thelma Kay In his Opening Statement, he expressed pleasure in extending a warm welcome to the distinguished delegates attending the Seminar. He commended the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security of Thailand, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, UNESCAP, and the network of disabled persons for organizing the seminar.

He commented that the Seminar played a vital role in fulfilling the goals of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, which has been extended from 2003 to 2012, and that the Seminar was privileged to be joined by participants from the Asia-Pacific Region, as well as the Arab, Africa, and the Latin America and Caribbean Regions.

Mr. Shigeru Mochida, Deputy Executive Secretary and Officer-in-Charge, a.i., of the UNESCAP, delivered a statement by Dr. Kim Hak-Su, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary, UNESCAP. He was pleased to note that special attention had been paid in recent years to the issue of strengthening interregional cooperation by the APCD, the Royal Thai Government, the Government of Japan, self-help groups and civil society organizations.

Mr. Mikiharu Sato, Resident Representative, JICA Thailand Office, noted that representatives from the Asia- Pacific, South Africa, Arab, and the Latin American and Caribbean regions were invited to this Seminar to consolidate their understanding and support of APCD, to share their experiences in the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993-2002), to enhance their understanding of the new Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012), and also to follow-up various activities in each country. He believed that the Seminar would be highly significant in making a great contribution to achieve the aforesaid goal and assist in making a better understanding and promotion of a barrier-free and right-based society for people in general.

Fifteen government delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Viet Nam, representatives of 11 South African countries, 22 Latin American and Caribbean countries, non-governmental organizations and other organizations involved with disability issues and resource persons from Jordan, Lebanon and Thailand attended the Seminar.

Mr. Kaname Okada, Chief of the Japan Programme of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) introduced the IDB Program to empower youth with disabilities from the Latin American and Caribbean Countries. He encouraged them to be more interested in disability issues and disability-related activities.

Mr. Monthian Buntan, APCD Resource Person/ President, Thailand Association of the Blind, shared his observations on the United Nations "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities", including his observations on human rights for persons with disabilities, which has for the past two decades received more attention than ever, shifting the perception of "disability" from a charity-based to a social model.

Ms. Mona Abdeljawad, MENA Regional Coordinator, Landmine Survivors Network, Jordan, shared her views on "The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Experience from the Arab World" and commented that the human rights standard setting was not a complete process. The rights of persons with disabilities was an area in need of standard setting as it represented a large gap in the existing human rights framework. Mr. Nawaf Kabbara, President, Arab Organization of Disabled People shared his observations and experiences on the "Arab Decade for Persons with Disability, 2004-2013", recalling the belief, commitment and force behind the Arab countries in declaring the Decade.

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