Dear All
See below
Best wishes
Colin
-----Original Message-----
From: GERRY ZARB [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 08 February 2006 13:32
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Subject: Are We Taking The Dis?
Dear All,
I am writing to tell you about a major new Disability Rights Commission
campaign, launched on 30 January to bring our Disability Debate and
emerging
priorities for a new Disability Agenda to wider attention.
We want to position disability as an issue of the same magnitude and
urgency
as other equality issues. We also wish to demonstrate that it is in
everyone
's interest to tackle the enduring disadvantage that people with a wide
range of impairments and health conditions face - because of barriers of
attitude, policy, behaviour or environment.
Research by the DRC and others has demonstrated that:
. Disability equality is not understood and not prioritised by
decision-makers in the public and private sectors.
. The range of people affected by disability discrimination is not
understood.
. There is scepticism about the numbers affected and the seriousness of
disability discrimination - disadvantage is medicalised; discrimination
is
personalised and not viewed as institutional.
The campaign will run over a period of six weeks and includes:
? a major billboard campaign in Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds,
London
and Manchester
? National and regional newspaper advertising
? online banner adverts on high-traffic sites
? a radio advert
? a major speech to policy-makers and opinion leaders by myself on 30th
January
? media promotion of the speech, case studies and the policy analysis
emerging from the DRC's Disability Debate
? an electronic tool to highlight the inaccessibility of the internet.
The adverts pose a question, 'Are We Taking the Dis?', in relation to a
range of situations where disabled people face disadvantage. Some are
provocative, even controversial. We believe that this is justified to
ensure
that those with the power to change laws, policies and practice
recognise
the impact of discrimination and disadvantage.
We are encouraging people, over the course of the campaign, to log onto
our
specially created microsite to tell us what they think. This can be
found at
www.disabilitydebate.org On this site is information about our 10 policy
priorities to change Britain for good.
We hope the net result of this initiative will be that decision-makers
and
opinion leaders have a stronger understanding of the reality and the
impact
of continuing inequality for disabled people - on disabled people
themselves
and on the achievement of public policy goals.
We do hope you will support our latest initiative and help us to get
disability issues up the political agenda.
With best wishes,
Gerry Zarb
Head of Health and Independent Living Strategy
Disability Rights Commission
3rd Floor, Fox Court
14 Grays Inn Road
London
WC1X 8HN
Tel: 020 7543 7033 or 01323 492100 (direct business line)
Fax: 020 7543 7001
Email: [log in to unmask]
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