News from the United Nations

Dec. 3 is the United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons established to promote understanding about disability issues and ensure equal opportunities for all. There are an estimated half a billion people with disabilities in the world today.

Activities that member states have been encouraged to consider on this day include:

• organizing forums on disability issues and initiating dialogue on the needs, interests and aspirations of the disabled community;
• taking stock of progress made and obstacles encountered during the implementation of disability policies and programmes;
• promoting solidarity between persons with disabilities and society as a whole;
• seeking involvement of schools and academic institutions; and
• giving special recognition to persons and organizations that work for the advancement of disabled persons.

In 1982 the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons was adopted by the United Nations Assembly. It marked the beginning of the U.N. Decade of Disabled Persons which ended in 1992.

In 1993 the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities were established.

The 1995 World Summit for Social Development and other recent United Nations conferences on global development issues have emphasized the need for people-centred sustainable development, with the eradication of poverty as a cornerstone. The Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development points out that people with disabilities form one of the world’s largest minorities, more than one person in 10, and are too often forced into poverty, unemployment and social isolation. In developing countries, as many as 80 per cent of all disabled people live in isolated rural areas. Most of these individuals are the poorest in the community, with little or no access to health care or rehabilitation or support services. Even in developed countries, studies reveal higher proportions of disabled persons among the poorest strata of society.

Through its Voluntary Fund on Disability, the United Nations provides seed-money/grants for innovation projects which will enhance the implementation of the World Program of Action concerning Disabled Persons. For information on this program, contact the editor of the Disabled Persons Bulletin, United Nations, Two United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017 USA fax: 1-212-963-3062. The United Nations web site is http://www.un.org/

The Global Applied Disability Research and Information Network on Employment and Training (GLADNET), is an initiative of the Vocational Rehabilitation Branch of the International Labour Organization, a United Nations specialized agency headquartered in Geneva, which has now been registered in Switzerland as an independent association.

GLADNET brings together research centres, universities enterprises, government departments, trade unions, organizations representing disabled persons. The goal of GLADNET is the promotion of research as well as the collection, analysis and international exchange of information concerning persons with disabilities in the world of work.

Three research projects are currently underway under GLADNET auspices: a comparative study of employment policies for disabled persons in selected countries; a multinational study on job retention and return to work strategies; and a study concerning working conditions in sheltered employment.

Apart from these projects being conducted under GLADNET auspices, the GLADNET project pages also offer members an opportunity to highlight research activities undertaken under their own initiatives. To facilitate the exchange of information, GLADNET has developed a specialized Global Infobase on employment and training as it relates to disability issues, as a joint partnership between the ILO and Network members.

Some GLADNET members have assumed responsibility for creating and maintaining theme subsections of the Infobase (e.g. wage subsidies, telework, return to work strategies) in which they have an interest. The Vocational Rehabilitation Branch has responsibility for collecting legislative texts from around the world.

GLADNET on the Internet may be accessed via the Network's website at: http://www.gladnet.org.

For more information contact: Carl Raskin, GLADNET Coordinator, at info@gladnet.org

Disabled People's International (DPI)

Disabled People's International (DPI) is a grassroots, cross-disability network with member organizations in over 110 countries, over half of which are in the developing world. The purpose of DPI is to promote the Human Rights of People with Disabilities through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development. DPI is administrated through the headquarters in Winnipeg, Canada and through eight Regional Development Offices. DPI has consultative status with the ECOSOC, UNESCO, WHO, and the ILO, and has official observer status at the United Nations General Assembly.

The main functions of DPI are Development, Human Rights, Communications, Advocacy and Public Education.

Disability International, the worldwide magazine of DPI, chronicles the international aspirations and challenges of DPI and brings to readers first hand accounts of the grassroots struggles of people with disabilities. Every issue carries information about products and resources, such as tourist information, career opportunities, or the latest technological advances that help put disabled people on an equal footing in all aspects of their lives.

For more information contact DPI through:

Disabled People’s International
101 - 7 Evergreen Place
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada R3L 2T3
Phone: (204) 287-8010
Fax: (204) 453-1367
TTY: (204) 284-2598
E-Mail: dpi@dpi.org
Web site: http://www.dpi.org/

Despite the title of this article and its unfortunate emphasis on women who are wheelchair users (which may give you the false impression only women who are wheelchair users attended), the story captures some of the spirit behind the International Leadership Forum for Women With Disabilities at the Bethesda Hyatt Regency where more than 500 people from 80 countries met for a week to talk about their experiences.

Many of these women reject the notion that they must wait for a cure or that having a disability is a tragedy. They shared strategies and programs around political organizing, education, sexuality and employment.

Whirlwind Women is one of the groups which showcased their unique program at the forum. This African group makes its own wheelchairs from inexpensive pieces of equipment available to them such as nails and washers and metal tubing. The Whirlwind I, Africa Model chairs are sold for $100 to $300 and are more suited to the rough roads of Africa than their American counterparts which cost $1,000 to $2,000.

A project of the Wheeled Mobility Center at San Francisco State University, Whirlwind Women is still in its infancy. Mechanics trained by the program have made more than 10,000 wheelchairs, but an estimated 20 million people around the world still don't have needed mobility devices.

For more information on this forum and on Whirlwind Women contact: the Washington Post; Rehabilitation International: one of the sponsors of the forum or Ralf Hotchkiss, a professor at San Francisco State University and co-founder of the Whirlwind Wheelchairs.