fyi.
http://db.tt/RcIeyCn
----- Original Message -----
From: "UNNews" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2011 2:05 AM
Subject: MORE THAN ONE BILLION PEOPLE FACE SOME FORM OF DISABILITY,LANDMARK
UN REPORT FINDS
MORE THAN ONE BILLION PEOPLE FACE SOME FORM OF DISABILITY, LANDMARK UN
REPORT FINDS
New York, Jun 9 2011 12:05PM
More than one billion people worldwide experience some form of disability,
the United Nations and the World Bank said today in a report that calls for
the elimination of barriers that often force the people with disabilities to
“the margins of society.”
The http://www.who.int/disabilities/world_report/2011/en/index.html World
Report on Disability, developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) and
the World Bank, with contributions from over 380 experts, urges governments
to “to step up efforts to enable access to mainstream services and to invest
in specialized programmes to unlock the vast potential of people with
disabilities.” Word copy http://db.tt/RcIeyCn
“Disability is part of the human condition,” said WHO Director-General
Margaret Chan at a ceremony in UN headquarters to launch the report. “Almost
every one of us will be permanently or temporarily disabled at some point in
life.”
“We must do more to break the barriers which segregate people with
disabilities, in many cases forcing them to the margins of society,” Dr.
Chan said.
The famed British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffers from
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), told the launch via
http://video.who.int/streaming/DAR/WHO_DAR_MAY2011_Hawking_eng_subs.wmv
video: “We have a moral duty to remove the barriers to participation for
people with disabilities, and to invest sufficient funding and expertise to
unlock their vast potential. It is my hope this century will mark a turning
point for inclusion of people with disabilities in the lives of their
societies.”
The barriers mentioned in the report include: stigma and discrimination; a
lack of adequate health care and rehabilitation services; and inaccessible
transport, buildings and information and communication technologies.
“As a result, people with disabilities experience poorer health, lower
educational achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of
poverty than people without disabilities,” WHO said.
The report recommended that governments and their development partners
provide people with disabilities access to all mainstream services, invest
in specific programmes and services for those people with disabilities who
are in need, and adopt a national disability strategy and plan of action.
In addition, governments “should work to increase public awareness and
understanding of disability, and support further research and training in
the area. Importantly, people with disabilities should be consulted and
involved in the design and implementation of these efforts.”
Nearly 150 countries and regional organizations have signed the Convention
on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and 100 have ratified it,
committing them to removing barriers so that people with disabilities may
participate fully in their societies, WHO said.
________________
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
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