This page aims to provide the latest international news on disability issues. If you have information that may be of interest to other ex-participants, please send it along. We welcome your input.
 Persons with disabilities around the world are still suffering from discrimination and abuse. Conclusion of this convention is very important for the purpose of making the environment accessible for persons with disabilities and enabling them to live independently in their community and participate in society. Up-to-date information on the convention is provided at the following sites. * United Nation’s site http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/ * Disabilities Information Resources (DINF) DINF is run and maintainted by JSRPD. The aim of DINF is to provide an information resource for supporting the study of health and welfare topics for people with disabilities. The information is collected from many Japanese and international sources. There is a special emphasis on the role technologies can play in improving access to information for disabled persons.  The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities www.dinf.ne.jp |
 The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific adopted Resolution 58/4 of 22 May 2002 at its fifty-eighth session toward the promotion of an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region in the twenty-first century. The resolution proclaimed the extension of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002, for another decade, 2003-2012. Recent information is provided at the following site. |
 The main objectives of the Decade are the alleviation of poverty amongst persons with disabilities and their families, awareness raising, prevention of disabilities, the strengthening of African voice of persons with disabilities, and the implementation of the United Nations standard rules for equal opportunity for persons with disabilities. (Please inform us if you can know of any Web sites that provide information on the African Decade of whose link we can carry here.) The African Decade for Person with Disabilities (1999-2009) was proclaimed by the African Union Assembly of Heads of State in July 1999. The formal declaration was subsequently adopted by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government in Togo, July 2000. The intention of the proclamation as outlined in the Continental Plan of Action is to enhance the quality of life of disabled persons, through capacity building, policy formulation and advocacy and lobbing. The Secretariat of the African Decade was mandated to fulfill this task by the African Union. The Secretariat was established at The ARCC conference in Johannesburg in May 2003, and is located in Cape Town, South Africa. http://www.africandecade.org.za/ |
 The Arab Decade of Disabled Persons was considered in a meeting hosted by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) in Beirut from 2—5 October 2002. The Arab Decade of Disabled Persons focused on the ten main objectives identified :education, health, legislation, rehabilitation and employment, women with disabilities, children with disabilities, accessibility and transportation, globalization, poverty and disability, information and awareness, recreation and sports. Further information is provided at the following site. http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/disarabdecade.htm |
