Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
The momentum to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities continues with 53 countries now having lodged their official documents at the United Nations. The latest country to ratify was Sudan on 24 April. Recently we have heard that the Tanzania Government have agreed to ratify the Convention and they are expected to deposit their documents later this year.
http://www.un.org/disabilities/
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/CRPDIndex.aspx
The CRPD Committee of 12 independent disability experts had their first meeting on 23-27 February in Geneva. This meeting was only to agree on their terms of reference, their procedures for working and to elect their Chairperson and other officer bearers. Mr Mohammed Al-Tarawneh (Jordan) will be the Chair for the first year and Ana Pelaez Narvaez (Spain) will Chair for the second year of the Committee’s term. Australian Professor Ron McCallum AO has been elected to the Committee. During the meeting, time was made available for input from UN agencies, States and Disabled Peoples’ Organisations (DPOs) on the suggested work for the Committee. An unofficial report is available at http://www.disabilityrightsnow.org.au/node/1 The next meeting of the Committee is being held in Geneva on 19-23 October 2009.
An Expert Group Meeting on Mainstreaming Disability in Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) policies, processes and mechanisms: Development for All was held at World Health Organisation (WHO) headquarters, Geneva 14-16 April 2009. Disabled Peoples’ Organisations from International Disability Alliance attended to ensure WHO continues to move away from the medical model to the social model. http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1470
International Conferences attended by AFDO
In February our international representative Dr. David Webb attended three international meetings on the CRPD, Mental Health & Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) in Bangkok. In April our CEO Lesley Hall attend a Womens’ forum and Conference of the Pacific Disability Forum in Vanuatu. Their reports will be available at www.afdo.org.au
International Conference on Transport - TRANSED 2010
The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation (HKSR) is hosting the 12th International Conference on Mobility and Transport for Elderly and Disabled Persons (TRANSED 2010) in Hong Kong, June 2 - 4, 2010. The theme of TRANSED 2010 is “Sustainable Transport & Travel for All”. Held every three years, TRANSED conferences are milestone events in the field of accessible transportation, attracting researchers, policy-makers, transport operators, consumers and other specialists worldwide to share innovations and best practices in order to make transportation and mobility accessible to everyone. http://www.transed2010.hk/front/