Statement for World Disability Day
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December 3rd is the International Day of the Disabled. See below
for a statement developed by participants at the recent meeting
"Disability, Poverty and the Millennium Development Goals" held
in Lilongwe, Malawi on the 2-4 November 2004. The meeting, or-
ganised as part of the Department for International Development
funded Disability Knowledge and Research programme (visit:
http://www.disabilitykar.net), was hosted by the Federation of
Disability Organisations of Malawi (FEDOMA) and Healthlink
Worldwide (visit: http://www.healthlink.org.uk).
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UN International Day of the Disabled 2004
The 3rd of December sees developing and developed countries of
the world, the UN and its specialized agencies, people with dis-
abilities and their organizations, the international community
and other development agencies commemorating the world disabil-
ity day, officially known as the International Day of The Dis-
abled.
This is an important day on our calendar whose theme this year
is 'Nothing About Us Without Us.' It is a day when we review and
acknowledge the plight, achievements, contributions, commitments
and aspirations of millions of people with disabilities in the
world; a day when we take stock of the performance of our gov-
ernments, development partners, civil society organizations and
other relevant players in terms of their contribution towards
disability and development.
Historically people with disabilities have been the most disad-
vantaged group and they continue to be viewed as such in many
countries. Thus as result of negative attitudes, inaccessible
environments and insensible policies and practices, the situa-
tion of people with disabilities is commonly associated with
poverty, lack of education, lack of employment, lack of inde-
pendent living and lack of empowerment. It is history character-
ized by marginalisation and oppression.
During the last 20 years people with disabilities have, through
their own organizations, strived to make their voices heard in
many countries by advocating for their rights and ensuring that
disability issues become a priority and part of the disability
agenda.
Through lobbying and advocacy, a new paradigm has emerged that
recognizes that people with disabilities have the same rights as
non-disabled people. The human rights model, as it is called,
does not expect children with Cerebral Palsy to learn to walk in
order to have the right to be educated. It does not expect blind
people to regain their sight in order to work; and deaf people
need not talk in order to be heard.
However, recognition of rights alone is not enough to improve
the living conditions of people with disabilities. It is not
just a question of prohibiting discrimination and expecting
their situation to improve the following morning.
A rights based approach to disability and development is about
leveling the playing field so that people with disabilities can
access jobs, education, health and other services. A rights
based approach is about the removal of physical and social bar-
riers; it is about attitude adjustments for policy makers, em-
ployers, teachers, health care professionals and even family
members.
A rights based approach is about ensuring universal design, ac-
cessible technology, and coordinated public programmes and ser-
vices. The approach requires governments to provide the re-
sources necessary to implement these goals and to enforce penal-
ties for those who refuse to cooperate.
At a Roundtable Forum organized in Malawi by Healthlink World-
wide UK and FEDOMA from 2 to 4 November 2004, participants from
Africa, Europe and South East Asia deliberated on a range of is-
sues that are of concern to people with disabilities.
They noted with great concern that the process of developing
poverty alleviation strategies in developing countries, for ex-
ample, and genuine progress towards achievement of the Millen-
nium Development Goals (MDGs) have not included the full par-
ticipation of Persons with Disabilities.
The Round table Forum strongly felt that disability should be
mainstreamed into the social, economic and political agenda of
Governments, United Nations and funding agencies at national,
regional and international levels, including civil society or-
ganizations (CSO's).
The forum observed that despite considerable work that has been
done by DPO's, Governmental and Non-governmental Organizations,
including development agencies on disability, meaningful tangi-
ble results and lasting change have yet to be achieved.
In view of the above, the Forum called for urgent measures to be
taken to facilitate indepth and participatory research on key
issues identified during this 1st Round Forum.
Alison Sizer
Programmes Officer - Asia
Healthlink Worldwide
Tel: +44-207-549-0268
Fax: +44-207-549-0241
http://www.healthlink.org.uk
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