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Dear All, This is to call your kind attention to the production of a documentary film by Jihan Kikhia who is a daughter of Mansur Rashid Kikhia, “father” of International Year of Disabled Persons (1981), whose work deserves, I believe, more recognition. You may be already aware of this important (partly heart-breaking) part of disability and human rights history and on-going efforts to remember it, but still I wish to reach out to wider community. In 1976 at UN General Assembly, Mansur Rashid Kikhia, Libyan Ambassador to UN, proposed the declaration of International Year of Disabled Persons (IYDP). Of course, this was an important step to the World Programme of Action, Standard Rules and eventually to CRPD. Kikhia left his government in 1980, protesting human rights abuse under the Qaddafi regime and exiled to US with his family. When he visited Cairo in 1993 to attend a human rights conference, he was abducted and killed in Libya. During the Arab spring, in November 2012, his body was found and identified, sadly confirming his death. Jihan Kikhia was 6 years old when her father disappeared. Now Jihan works on the production of a documentary film about her father and family’s search for him, “Searching for Kikhia”. https://www.mansurkikhia.org/ It was really great the Jihan was invited to speak about her father at the opening part of the 10th Conference of States Parties of CRPD in 2017. This is a belated but important step for the recognition Kikhia and his family deserve. Following is excerpts from her statement. = According to friends who well remember my father, his passion for the rights of people with disabilities stemmed from his experience growing up in Benghazi in the 1930s, when he witnessed a large population of Libyans with war-induced disabilities without access to proper care. Like most countries at the time, Libya’s infrastructure lacked both the resources to provide services to people with disabilities and legal protections of their rights. At the 1978 international conference on disability legislation, he stressed that one of the common denominators of all countries was the lack of awareness and education about disability. His leadership helped ensure a successful IYDP, laying solid groundwork in both the legal and advocacy channels, leading eventually to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. When I was 6 years old on December 10, 1993 my father disappeared after attending a human rights meeting which he had helped to organize. December 10 is coincidentally International Human Rights Day. His body was located and identified 19 years later, in 2012. On the 3rd of December 2012, a burial ceremony was held for Amb Kikhia by the government and his local community in his hometown of Benghazi, Libya. I remember seeing young Libyan children with disabilities join together and sing in honor of my father. In that moment I learned that December 3rd is also coincidentally International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which I think is a fitting and profound symbol. When my father was around my family was unaware of his successes in the United Nations. I only discovered this information 3 years ago when a friend shared with me the inner workings of my father’s career and his contributions to disability rights in the UN. She provided me with a precious piece of the puzzle of my father’s life that I have been relentlessly trying to piece together for over 25 years, making this experience right now even more surreal. It is a wonder to see that the small seed that Ambassador Kikhia helped plant has grown to the giant success it is today. I sincerely want to thank you all for giving me this precious moment and platform to not only honor my father’s efforts and contributions to human rights but also to celebrate his life with his family in the very same room he thrived in with his colleagues over 40 years ago. = Her presentation, which had to be low-key as I assume, is available at the following (after 15 minutes); http://webtv.un.org/watch/1st-meeting-10th-session-of-the-conference-of-stat es-parties-to-the-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-13-1 5-june-2017-cosp10/5469736370001 I would really like to know more about the work of Mansur Rashid Kikhia and his family, including Jihan. I do look forward to the completion of Jihan’ s project and to watching the documentary soon. Best. Nagase Osamu Professor, Research Center for Ars Vivendi, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto Chair, Membership Committee, Inclusion International Vice Chair, CRPD Committee, Japan Disability Forum ________________End of message________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about list administration should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can VIEW, POST, JOIN and LEAVE the list by logging in to this web page.