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Rehabilitation International

M O N T H L Y NEWSLETTER January 2013

Advancing the Rights

and Inclusion of Persons with

Disability Worldwide

Contact:

Rehabilitation International

25 East 21st Street, 4th Floor

New York, NY 10010, USA

Tel.: +1-212-420-1500

Fax: +1-212-505-0871

E-Mail: newsletter@riglobal.org

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For RI EC, RIF AND RI Members

Topics

Dates & venues for the upcoming RI meetings .................................. 3

Upcoming Meetings and Events ......................................................... 3

CRPD Ratification Update .................................................................. 4

Membership News ............................................................................. 6

Other News ...................................................................................... 10

Resource Update .............................................................................. 11

Resource Material ............................................................................. 12

Inspiration ....................................................................................... 12

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Dates & venues for the upcoming RI meetings

Dates Meeting Place

March 4th-15th, 2013 57th Session of the

Commission on the Status of Women

United Nations

New York, U.S.A.

April 18th, 2013 9am-3pm RI Europe meeting Ljubljana, Slovenia

May 16th-19th, 2013 EC Meeting Oslo, Norway

September 20th-21st, 2013 EC & Commission Meetings

New York, U.S.A.

September 22nd, 2013 2013 RI GA New York, U.S.A.

For more information please see our website www.riglobal.org

Upcoming Meetings and Events

2013, February 18 – 20 1st International Conference on

Technology for Helping People with Special Needs (ICTHP-2013) in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. ICTHP will address major issues with

special focus on Education, Employment, Independence, Communication and Entertainment for people with disabilities and older adults enabling a more independent and enjoyable life. For further information please visit:

http://www.icthp.ccis-imamu.net/index.htm

2013, February 27 – 28 2nd Singapore Rehab Conference held

in conjunction with RehabTech Asia 2013 in Singapore. The theme is:

“Rehabilitation Technology & Innovation for Everyone”. For further information please see: http://www.singaporerehab.com.sg

2013, April 25 – 26 Health Disparities Research at

the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, and Disability: A National

Conference in Washington DC, USA. The conference is intended to bring together researchers, advocates, and policy makers in racial and ethnic disparities and disability-related disparities to: Learn about barriers to

health care and health promotion for people with disabilities in underserved racial and ethnic groups, share your own work on health disparities at this

intersection and discuss priorities for future research and action. Early Bird Registration Deadline is February 15th, 2013. For further information

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please go to: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/research/centers-institutes/institute-on-development-and-disability/public-health-

programs/project-intersect/project-intersect-registration.cfm

CRPD Ratification Update

Latest Developments

Cambodia ratified the Convention on 20-12-2012

Singapore signed the Convention on 30-11-2012

Malta ratified the Convention and the Optional Protocol on 10-10-2012

Dominica ratified the Convention and the Optional Protocol on 1-10-2012

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

155 signatories

127 ratifications

Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with

Disabilities

90 signatories

76 ratifications

For more Information please visit following website: http://www.un.org/disabilities/

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched a new initiative called "m-

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Health" to use mobile technology, particularly text messaging and applications, to help tackle non-communicable illnesses such as diabetes,

cancer, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases. Through the initiative, ITU and WHO will provide evidence-based and operational

guidance to encourage partners worldwide, especially governments, to implement m-Health interventions to address prevention and treatment of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their common risk factors – tobacco

use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and the harmful use of alcohol. Using mobile telephone technology, m-Health practices can help save lives, reduce

illness and disability, and reduce healthcare costs significantly. For further information please visit: www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43308&Cr=disease&Cr1

The Report of the fifth session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD (12-14 September 2012) is now available:

http://www.un.org/disabilities/documents/COP/crpd_csp_2012_2.doc.

The Third Committee of the General Assembly negotiated and adopted

the resolution: “Realizing the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with

disabilities”. The resolution address the inclusion and mainstreaming of disability in development programs and processes, as well as the improvement of disability data and statistics, among other issues. The

resolution: “Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the Optional Protocol, thereto” was also adopted by the Third Committee

and addresses the need to strengthen of the work of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by providing additional meeting time, among other issues. The resolution: “Addressing socio-economic needs

of individuals, families and societies affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and Developmental Disorders (DD)” was adopted by

the plenary of the General Assembly as A/RES/87/82 on 12 December. For further information please see: www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=36

The Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will hold a half Day of General Discussion on Women and Girls with Disabilities on Wednesday 17 April 2013. The Committee underlines the

importance of holding this discussion, given the multiple forms of discrimination experienced by women and girls with disabilities that hinder

their meaningful participation on an equal basis with other individuals in all spheres of life. The Committee invites all persons with disabilities and

their representative organizations to submit their inputs to the Committee no later than 17 February, 2013. For further information please visit: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx

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Membership News

– We’d love to hear from you…

Please share with us project summaries/reports, articles and announcements

on events which your organization is planning to hold or has conducted, and other information which you may want to share with colleagues in the RI network, our partners and to the rest of the world. Send these to us at this

email address: newsletter@riglobal.org and we will make sure that these get included in future issues of the RI Newsletter.

Rehabilitation International participates in the 132nd Executive Board Meeting of the World Health Organization held in Geneva from 21-29

January 2013. As a non-governmental organization in official relations with WHO, RI will also make the following Statement to the EB to be delivered by RI President, Jan Arne Monsbakken:

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Six years after the adoption by the United Nations of the Convention on the

Rights of Persons with Disabilities already signed and ratified by an unprecedented number of countries, people with disabilities continue to face

widespread barriers in accessing services, including health care and rehabilitation and remain in the margins of communities and societies especially in developing countries.

Having been a member of the committee which worked to produce the first ever World Report on Disability of the WHO and the World Bank in response

to a request from the World Health Assembly on its 58th session in May 2005, RI is pleased of the fact that the Report has provided a clear picture of the many barriers people with disabilities face on a daily basis and provides

specific recommendations on what governments can do to address these and other issues which stand in the way of the inclusion of people with disabilities

in the life of their communities.

Appreciating the urgency of the need to act on these issues, RI calls for the

inclusion of a resolution in the agenda of the 2013 World Health Assembly for the recognition of the CRPD and its implications to WHO’s work, acknowledge the findings and recommendations of the World Report on Disability and to

require WHO and its member states to implement the findings through its work.

The United Nations will convene a High Level Meeting in Disability on the 22nd of September 2013 which will be attended by Heads of States and other high-ranking officials of governments. We call on the World Health Assembly

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to use this occasion to create greater awareness on the plight of one billion people who remain excluded from the most basic of services enjoyed by

everyone else. The High Level Meeting is a historic opportunity to make a difference in the lives of people with disabilities.

RI urges that the WHA in 2013 updates its Resolution 58.23 from 2005, to reflect important developments in the field of Disability, including the CRPD adopted by the UN in 2006 and the WRD published by WHO-WB in June

2011.

Thank you.

“The Peninsula Qatar” (http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com) published the following article about the RI Arab Region Conference on

Wednesday, September 26, 2012:

Rehabilitation International –

Arab Region commenced its fifth conference here on Monday calling on nations to ratify the UN

Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The

four-day conference is held under the Patronage of H E Sheikha Hessa bint Hamad bin Khalifa Al

Thani, President of the Supreme Council of Family Affairs to

discuss issues on the theme ‘Together for world development with people with disabilities.’ The conference hailed measures taken by Arab

countries to facilitate inclusion of people with disabilities and called policy makers to integrate them into development plans. “Arab countries have been

very active in advocating rights of people with disabilities through conferences and training programs,” said Khaled El-Mohthar, Vice President, Rehabilitation International for the Arab region (shown in picture, extreme

right), opening the conference at Sharq Village, Doha. He also said that the world could not achieve the millennium development goals if people with

disabilities are not treated equally. “We have achieved much, yet there is a long way to go as the majority of people with disabilities are from developing countries who suffer poverty and lack of infrastructure. It’s also important for

more countries to ratify the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities,” El-Mohtar further said. The Convention on the Rights of Persons

with Disabilities is an international human rights instrument of the Nations intended to protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities which was opened for signature on March 30, 2007. Parties to the Convention are

required to promote, protect, and ensure the full enjoyment of human rights

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by persons with disabilities and ensure that they enjoy full equality under the law.

Ekaete Umoh of Nigeria (picture with former RI President Anne Hawker) is the new Vice

President for Africa Region of Rehabilitation International. She made history by becoming the

first Nigerian and African woman to hold this prestigious position in RI. Ekaete Umoh is a multi- award winning advocate, activist, educator and

researcher who has been working in the non-profit sector since 1996. She is the Founder and

Executive Director of the Family Centered Initiative for Challenged Persons (FACICP) of Nigeria, a non-

governmental organization that works to Promote Inclusive Development for marginalized groups especially women and girls with disabilities for their inclusion in development

programs in Nigeria and Africa. She is presently the National Women’s Coordinator of the Joint National Association of People with Disabilities, RI-

Nigeria’s National Executive Secretary and now, RI Vice President for Africa Region. Others elected to their new posts in RI include: Arab Region’s Mr. Mohammed Abdul Rahman Al Sayyed, Vice President, from Qatar, and

Mr. Mukhtar Mohamad Al Rawahi, Deputy Vice President, from Oman; Asia Pacific Region’s Dr. Asish Kumar Mukherjee, Vice President, from

India and Ms. Ye Ja Lee, Deputy Vice President, from South Korea; European Region’s Dr. Joachim Breuer, Vice President, from Germany and Ms. Siobhan Barron, Deputy Vice President, from Ireland; North American

Region’s Dr. Patrick Fougeyrollas, Vice President, from Canada and Dr. Martin Grabois, Deputy Vice President, from the United States; and

Treasurer, Ms. Susan Parker of the United States.

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RI President Jan Arne Monsbakken (extreme left) with Ms. Nanda Krairiksh and her colleague at the UN ESCAP in Bangkok during the new RI

President’s recent visit to Thailand.

Mr. Piotr Pawlowski, President of RI’s Polish member “Friends of Integration Association” provided

information with the RI Secretariat on new initiatives undertaken by his organization which are interesting to share

with the rest of RI members, as follows: Accessible websites. They are running a large-scale project for

businesses, local governments, governmental and nongovernmental

institutions on accessibility of information and services on the internet. In 2012 they cooperated with the Prime Minister Chancellery on

adaptation of the website premier.gov. Providing information for the disabled. Working on strengthening

their position as first choice of information for the disabled. Their main

channels of communication are: “Integracja” Magazine, biggest website for disabled; as well as a weekly TV program in a private

station with national coverage. “Finance without barriers” – educational platform for disabled

people to address their social problem of financial exclusion and the

low level of awareness on the financial needs of Polish with disabilities. The main aim is to increase financial activity benefitting people with

disabilities through dissemination of knowledge, skills development and the shaping positive habits for using products and solutions offered by financial institutions.

Providing professional services for the disabled. They provide consulting services on recruitment, trainings and employment in 5

centers in Poland. In 2012 more than 10,000 people with disabilities

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have received advice, information and employment support from the Friends of Integration Association.

For further information please visit www.integracja.org or contact Mr. Piotr Pawlowski at piotr.pawlowski@integracja.org

Other News

Device helps children with disabilities access tablets Children with neurological disorders such as cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury, spina bifida and muscular dystrophy typically suffer from fine motor

impairments, which is the difficulty of controlling small coordinated movements of the hands, wrists and fingers. They tend to lack the ability to

touch a specific small region with appropriate intensity and timing needed for press and swipe gestures. Researchers at Georgia Tech have created Access4Kids, a wireless input device that uses a sensor system to translate

physical movements into fine-motor gestures to control a tablet. The device, coupled with supporting open-source apps and software, allows children with

fine motor impairments to access off-the-shelf apps such as Facebook and YouTube, as well as custom-made apps for therapy and science education.

The impact of Access4Kids could be significant. More than 200,000 children only in the U.S. public school system have an orthopedic disability and have been excluded from tablet and touch screen devices. Current assistive

technology, such as Augmentative and Alternative Communication devices, is available to those with motor impairments for traditional computer platforms

but not tablets or smartphones. For further information please visit: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121211083229.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedai

ly%2Fhealth_medicine%2Fdisability+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Health+%26+Medicine+News+--+Disability%29

International Network for Disabled Youth, known as “INDYspace”, an online network dedicated to connecting young disabled people aged 16-30 from around the world, has been officially

launched. The website, funded by Oxfam Australia through their Oxfam International Youth Partnerships program, is the first of its kind in bringing young disabled people together on a global level. It enables users to sign up

and share their experiences through the posting of blogs, pictures and videos, as well as providing information on a range of relevant topics

including disability rights, independent living, travel and transport, and inclusion and accessibility, acting as both a network and an information base to which users can contribute. It is hoped that in the long-term, the site can

provide informative, user-run webinars and interactive online video

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conferences. For more information on INDYspace, visit www.indyspace.org

Resource Update

Women’s Institute on Leadership and Disability (WILD) will bring together approximately 30 women leaders with disabilities from 30

different countries to strengthen leadership capacity, create new visions and build international networks of support for inclusive international development programming in August 2013. Applications are now available

online: www.miusa.org/exchange/currentprogs/wild/wild13/wild2013

Disability Rights Fund seeks Russian- and Ukrainian-Speaking

Grants Consultant. The Grants Consultant will help the Disability Rights Fund (DRF) and its sister organization, the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund

(DRAF), build relationships with a target grantee community in Ukraine. The main objectives of the position are to support DRF staff with grantee communications and oversight and to review and evaluate Russian- and

Ukrainian-language grant applications. Applications must be received by January 20, 2013. For further information please see:

www.disabilityrightsfund.org

The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) is offering a series of free

webcasts on disability etiquette, assistive technologies, management techniques and the latest on accommodations and the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). All Webcasts

begin at 2 pm eastern and are 1 hour. Find a listing of all training modules offered at http://askjan.org/webcast/

Free Webinar for Employers Seeking to Hire Job Seekers with Disabilities Why employers should join: Recruiting job seekers with

disabilities is different than recruiting from other minority groups. Whether employers are looking to hire right away or want to build their pipeline, this free webinar details all the practical information and skills they need to

effectively interact with, engage and interview a person with a disability. DATE: Wed., Feb. 13, 2013, TIME: 2:00 – 3:00 pm EST, COST: Free,

REGISTRATION: available now at http://brazencareerist.com/best-practices-in-disability-recruiting

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Resource Material

“Don’t Call Me Special: A First Look at Disability”

by Pat Thomas and Lesley Harker (Illustrator). This delightful picture book, for children ages 4 – 7 years,

explores questions and concerns about physical disabilities in a simple and reassuring way. Younger children can find out about individual disabilities, special equipment that is

available to help the disabled, and how people of all ages can deal with disabilities and live happy and full lives. ISBN-13:

9780764121180 , Publisher: Barron's Educational Series, Incorporated

“Understanding Disability Policy” by Alan

Roulstone, Simon Prideaux. We live at a paradoxical time for many disabled people: some achieve new freedoms while others face cuts in services and attempts to restrict who

counts as disabled. Locating disability policy within broader social policy contexts, Alan Roulstone and Simon Prideaux

critically explore the roles of social support, poverty, socio-economic status, community safety, spatial change, and other issues in shaping disabled people’s opportunities. They also

consider implications for future policy developments, including the impact of changing government and academic

understandings of disability. ISBN-13: 9781847427380 , Publisher: Policy Press

Inspiration

Thoughts for the New Year

Any time is a good time to make a new

beginning but it is sometimes easier to make a new beginning at this time of the year, when the old one is drawing to a close and

the New Year stretches invitingly before you. There is a spirit of newness in human hearts

at this time. You cannot help but feel inspired and enthused by it. Possibly you have an area in your life that you would like

to change or improve. To someone else, your life may seem perfect and complete,

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but you know the places in your life and heart that call for light and upliftment. The beginning of a new year provides a time and a season for

newness, for the changes, inner and outer, that you have dreamed of making but have not yet dared to set into motion. This is the time to gain a new

understanding of the idea of life. Do you want peace and harmony in your life? Have you longed to be on better terms with your family, friends or colleagues, to feel closer to others, to be understanding of others, to be

understood by them? This is the time to enter into newness, to open your mind and heart and to let this love find expression through you in the

thoughts you think, in the way you act, in your attitude toward people and situations. You need not carry into the New Year the old habits of thinking and acting that have left you frustrated or unhappy. You need not carry into

the New Year the old doubts and fears and misgivings, the old hurt and bitterness. You need not bring forward any feeling of unforgiveness. You can

let go of negative ways of thinking and begin to live in peace and harmony. This is the time for newness. This is the time to let go of the old, to put on the new. This is the time to let the life and love and light flow through you

and to shine in all that you do. Now you stand at a place of beginning again. We all know that there will be ups along with challenges too. Some days are

wonderful and others are difficult. No matter how difficult some things may seem, we always have to remember that somewhere, there are others going

through something much more challenging and that helps us get through.

In this spirit let’s work actively together at RI to make meaningful changes in the life of persons with disabilities.

and yours too…

We hope you enjoyed reading this issue of the RI Monthly Newsletter. Tell us about your activities and other stories so we can share it with RI members and the world.

Jan Arne Monsbakken, RI President

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Picture by Franck Boston

Venus Ilagan, Secretary General

Iris Reiss, Rehabilitation Expert

Thank you for supporting RI Global and let’s make

change happen together