From: lila sylviti [log in to unmask]

Media release

3rd EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES:
A HISTORIC EVENT AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

5 December 2012 /// On the 5th of December, more than 450 delegates from organisations representing persons with disabilities (DPOs) from all over Europe met with European Parliament leaders, MEPs and EU decision-makers in order to discuss how Europe can ensure the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities in this time of crisis.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/V8qVd3

From: lila sylviti [log in to unmask]

The European Disability Forum (EDF) and the Arab Organisation of Persons with Disabilities (AOPD), in cooperation with the European Economic and Social Committee take great pleasure in inviting you to participate at the International conference “The European – Arab International Cooperation: A common agenda for the UN CRPD” that will take place in Brussels on 14th December 2012. The event is organised in the context of the SpanishAgency for Cooperation and Development (AECID) funded project called MUSAWA II.

The conference will gather leaders from the Arab disability movement as well as from the European disability movement, international cooperation organisations, policy makers and international social donors. The conference will explore the position of disability in the current international cooperation policy of the European Union, in the External financing instruments as well as the position that the European Union should have in the future post millennium development framework. The conference will explore as well the case of the cooperation between the European Union and the Arab countries lessons that can be learnt.
[...]
The conference will take place at the premises of the European Economic and Social Committee at Room - VM 3, in Rue Van Maerlant 2 (B-1040 Brussels) on 14th December from 9.00 to 15.30. Please note that you can find a map on how to arrive to the venue at http://bit.ly/TEsAoE. A light lunch will be served for participants from 13.00 to 14.00 in the venue, please note that EDF-AOPD cannot cover other expenses related to transport or accommodation.

Should you be interested in participating in the conference please fill in the registration form and send it to the attention of Mr Javier Güemes at [log in to unmask] by 11th December 2012.

From: Ingrid Heindorf / World Future Council [log in to unmask]

We are very pleased to announce that yesterday, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Zero Project Report 2013, with its special focus on employment, was launched at the Vienna International Film Festival for Human Rights “This Human World”. At the launch, some of the most striking findings and figures of this year’s research were presented and the award-winning Korean movie “Planet of Snail” was shown.

The Zero Project Report 2013 includes:
- A survey of 23 Social Indicators [http://bit.ly/11QAOfr] on the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 55 countries
- A survey of 10 Social Indicators focusing on the employment of persons with disabilities in 82 countries
- 40 Innovative Practices [http://bit.ly/UEInUl] that promote the employment of persons with disabilities
- 11 Innovative Policies [http://bit.ly/SEUAaS] that promote the employment of persons with disabilities

View results at: http://bit.ly/vVIygb
View executive summary at: http://bit.ly/TB4qrO
View accessible summary at: http://bit.ly/QFZ8hx
View special report (in German) at: http://bit.ly/UdM132

From: Tom Rickert [log in to unmask]

Attached please find our January 2013 newsletter, "Accessible Transportation Around the World."

Kindly note that you are invited to register for our International Roundtable on starting up and scaling up paratransit in developing regions, on Thursday, January 17, 9 a.m. to 12 noon in Washington DC (see the box on page 3 of the newsletter). This is a followup activity to our new guide on this topic, as we hope to encourage an international discussion with new thinking concerning how to implement door-to-door transit systems for those disabled persons in less-wealthy countries who are unable to use regular bus and rail service.

The great majority of our income comes from individual donors, and the great majority of the time of everyone involved in our agency is also donated. While we have operated for more than twenty years "on a shoestring," that shoestring needs strengthening to take full advantage of the opportunities in front of us. Accordingly, recipients of our newsletter are encouraged to consider support for this work via PayPal, located in the "Donate to AEI" section at www.globalride-sf.org.

Newsletter attachment: http://bit.ly/RCuSWe

GPDD Secretariat

AusAID
Monday, December 3, 2012

An independent mid-term review of AusAID’s Development for All strategy found that AusAID has been able to make ‘considerable and impressive’ progress towards becoming a more inclusive aid program.

The Development for All strategy was launched in November 2008 and improves the effectiveness of Australia’s aid program by ensuring that people with disability—about 15 per cent of the world’s population or one billion people—benefit equally from the aid program.
The mid-term review was conducted to identify what has been achieved and to provide information to improve and refine work undertaken under the strategy. Consultations for the review took place in countries across the region, including Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Samoa and Thailand.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/XrHTn6

GPDD Secretariat

The Hindu
Monday, November 26, 2012

The Haemophilia Federation India (HFI) has demanded that haemophilia and thalassaemia be included in the category of benchmark disabilities in the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2012.

The HFI members held a protest dharna at Jantar Mantar over the weekend and submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee stating that haemophilia and thalassaemia are life-threatening disorders and that affected people cannot work without adequate job security.

The Federation chief executive officer S. S. Roychoudhury said: “The Bill that will replace the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995, has 18 disabilities including haemophilia and thalassaemia. But the two disorders have been excluded from the benchmark disabilities section, which promises the security of a government job.”

He added that the Federation has also submitted a memorandum to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

HFI president and Director of National Institute of Immunohaematology, KEM Hospital, Mumbai, Dr. K. Ghosh added: “Most of the patients registered with the organisations are disabled to varying extents. The widespread prevalence of disability amongst patients, its social costs in terms of incomplete education and unemployment, justifies the need to include Hemophilia as one of the conditions under the Act.”

By Masahudu Kunateh

Bizcommunity
Monday, November 26, 2012

Ghanaian president, John Dramani Mahama has announced educational and research institutions across the country will from early 2013 benefit from the supply of 400 000 laptops to facilitate teaching, learning, innovations and research.
The initiative forms part of the next phase of government's computerisation programme intended to promote growth driven by Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Mahama said the rollout followed an implementation of both the basic school computerisation project and the Ghana Laptop Project, under which a total of 160 000 laptops were distributed to schools, institutions and individuals to enhance teaching and learning of ICT.

Mahama spoke at a ceremony in Accra to distribute laptops to individuals and institutions.

The occasion was the graduation of 2 500 Persons With Disability (PWD) who underwent six months in ICT at the Rlg Institute of Technology, a subsidiary of Rlg Communications, Ghana's indigenous ICT firm.

The graduates received tools provided by government to help them set-up their own businesses.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/WUfw0P

GPDD Secretariat

Sofia News Agency
Sunday, November 25, 2012

Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court, VAS, has ruled against the National Health Insurance Fund, NZOK, on charges of discrimination against people suffering from multiple sclerosis.

NZOK is found guilty of discrimination because it provides funding for treatment only to patients who have 65% disability, while the rest are left to deal with the suffering on their own, according to the VAS rule.

VAS' rule was announced after a 3-year-long battle of an employee of the Council of Ministers, Desislava Rayanova, against a NZOK decision to provide the very expensive medication (nearly BGN 2 000 a month per patient) only to those with 65% disability from multiple sclerosis.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/UGBGPM

By Rashmi r Parida

India Education Diary
Wednesday, December 5, 2012

CURE International India signed an agreement with The Department of Health and Family Welfare and The Department of Women and Child Development, Government of Odisha to work in partnership with government healthcare system to eradicate disability caused by Clubfoot in Odisha.

Clubfoot, one of the world’s most common physical disabilities in newborn infants, twists the feet inward and around.

Shri P.K.Mohapatra, IASCommissioner-cum-Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department and Ms Arti Ahuja, IAS, Commissioner-cumSecretary, Women and Child Dev. Department, signed the official Memorandum of Understanding along with Dr Santhosh George, Director of CURE International India.

While signing agreement, P.K.Mohapatra said that the state govt is committed to provide free treatment to every child born with clubfoot in Odisha. Ms Arti Ahuja said that since the women and child development department has list of nearly 5000 children born with clubfoot waiting for treatment, this program will benefit many immediately after the implementation of the program.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/SH4KYF

GPDD Secretariat

The China Post
Monday, December 3, 2012

TAIPEI--Disabled children and adults performed in Taipei Sunday to highlight disability awareness ahead of International Day of Persons with Disabilities Dec. 3.
“We hope to raise awareness of disability issues and show the public that disabled people can perform well with training,” Lin Cheng-hsia, chairman of the organizer, Down Syndrome Foundation Republic of China, told CNA.

High school students with Down Syndrome kicked off the annual event with an exuberant performance of Japanese taiko drums.

African dance, wheelchair ballroom dancing, saxophone and jazz drum performances, as well as a music performance by sight-impaired singer Pai Ming-kuang, were all part of the event, which was attended by opposition Democratic Progressive Party Chairman Su Tseng-chang.

Read more at: http://bit.ly/Vnr1HX

From: Pazzaglia, Natalia [log in to unmask]

Dear all,

I am writing on the behalf of the Inter-American Development Bank to present you with three international calls for solutions launched by the Innovation Lab, part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Division at the IDB. The aim of these calls is to promote the labor and financial inclusion of people with disabilities. A brief description of each of the calls follows below:

1) Inclusion in firms (general call for projects on inclusion)
2) Inclusive Finance (call for projects in the financial sector)
3) Disruptive ideas (call for ideas aiming at labor inclusion)

The aim of the first two calls is to support private and public entities (or financial institutions) to design and implement innovative solutions leading to the labour inclusion and gender equality of people with disabilities in the firms of Latin America and the Caribbean. The selected winners will receive up to US$ 50,000 to develop, implement and share their innovative solution.

The third initiative is a call for ideas that can break those barriers that limit the labor inclusion of women and men with disabilities in LAC countries.

Proposals should be submitted no later than December 31, 2012.

For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/VtpY9n

We would appreciate if you could help us advertise these initiatives. Thank you very much for your help and I am available if you need any further information.

Best regards,
Natalia Pazzaglia