International Network for Social Research on Disability

Today is cold but beautiful.

2009-11-28T09:18:00.000-08:00

Even though it is almost freezing out, we are still drying out the sheets on our deck. They are whipping wildly in the cold winds, but with this amount of sun they should be dry in no time.

LAUDING DISABILITY CONVENTION AS ‘DAWN OF A NEW ERA,’ UN URGES SPEEDY RATIFICATION

2006-12-13T16:58:00.001-08:00

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=20975
13 Dec 2006

The General Assembly today adopted a landmark disability convention, the first human rights treaty of the twenty-first century and one that United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said represents the “dawn of a new era” for around 650 million people worldwide living with disabilities.

Mr. Annan, along with Assembly President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa and other UN officials, as well as members of civil society that lobbied for the pact, urged all 192 Member States to quickly ratify the convention, which covers rights to education, health, work and a raft of other protective measures for people with disabilities.

“Today promises to be the dawn of a new era – an era in which disabled people will no longer have to endure the discriminatory practices and attitudes that have been permitted to prevail for all too long. This Convention is a remarkable and forward-looking document,” Mr. Annan said in a speech read out by Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown.

The Assembly adopted the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities in a vote by consensus.

“In three short years, the Convention became a landmark several times over: it is the first human rights treaty to be adopted in the twenty-first century; the most rapidly negotiated human rights treaty in the history of international law; and the first to emerge from lobbying conducted extensively through the Internet… I urge all governments to start by ratifying, and then implementing it, without delay.”

Sheikha Haya echoed this call, adding that by adopting the Convention, Member States were sending a “clear message of solidarity” by reaffirming the dignity of all humankind and recognizing that “all societies stand to benefit from empowering this important community.”

“I look forward to the full implementation of the convention by Member States, with the involvement of all concerned parties. In particular, the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) and civil society groups whose energy, compassion and willingness to work in the spirit of cooperation greatly contributed to the final agreement.”

High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour added her voice to calls for ratification, with her office (OHCHR) noting that the agreement – which comprises 50 articles – fills a major gap in international human rights law.

“The convention… marks a historic step in ensuring that persons with disabilities enjoy full participation in society and can contribute to the community to their full potential. Speedy ratification… will end the protection vacuum that has, in practice, affected persons with disabilities,” Ms. Arbour said.

The convention provides that States which ratify it should enact laws and other measures to improve disability rights, and also abolish legislation, customs and practices that discriminate against persons with disabilities. It will be open for signature and ratification on 30 March 2007, and will enter into force after it has been ratified by 20 countries, the OHCHR said.

Speaking at a press conference after the Assembly session, Ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand, chairman of the committee that negotiated the convention, described today’s adoption as “an historic event,” adding that those involved in the process “can I think be pleased with the convention that we have. It is in effect an extraordinarily far-reaching convention.”

Representatives from the International Disability Caucus (IDC) also welcomed the document, stressing its all-inclusive nature, while at the same time urging states to urgently ratify the deal and also raising several concerns.

“We… celebrate and welcome the convention on the rights of persons with disabilities… which recognizes that disability is a human rights issue,” Pamela Molina Toledo, one of the IDC leaders, told reporters, speaking in Spanish and also using sign language.

“This convention is an example of unity and cooperation…for the benefit of all,” she said, while urging its speedy ratification, a point also made by Tina Minkowitz, another of the IDC leaders.

“The International Disability Caucus urges governments to ratify and implement the convention within national legislation policies and legal structures and to change those legislation and policies when that is necessary,” she said, adding that a particular concern was the need for governments to recognize sign language and other alternative methods of communication in all situations of information, education and employment.
2006-12-13 00:00:00.000

Watch the General Assembly adopt the new Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on Wednesday, December 13th! 10:00 am New York time

2006-12-12T20:37:00.001-08:00

General Assembly Webcast link below
New York 10am
London 3pm
Bangkok 11pm
Melbourne 2am 14 December
http://www.un.org/webcast/index.asp

Wednesday 13 December 2006
All Indicated times are New York time (GMT-5)
http://www.un.org/webcast/index.asp
channel 1
10:00am General Assembly: Human rights questions, including alternative approaches for improving the effective enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms: note by the Secretary-General transmitting the final report of the Ad Hoc Committee on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.

Driving a Wheelchair with Your Shirt

2006-11-21T10:32:00.001-08:00

Adaptive, sensor-laden garments could provide a new way for quadriplegics to control their wheelchairs. The system, which is still in an early stage of development, identifies the ideal set of movements that can be employed as control commands for each individual user. "We think this will benefit the most difficult patients, such as those who can move only their head or shoulders," says Alon Fishbach, a scientist at Northwestern who is among those developing the device.
Link to Source

School web sites fail accessibility test

2006-10-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

Only 14 percent of nation's top universities reportedly meet W3C accessibility guidelines
By Justin Appel, Assistant Editor, eSchool News

A maker of internet content management solutions says it has tested the web sites of the top 124 universities in the nation for how accessible they are to users with disabilities, and the results aren't good: According to the company, only 17 of the 124 schools' sites comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's standards for accessibility.

October 6, 2006—Eighty-six percent of the nation's top universities have web sites that do not comply with standards designed to make the internet more accessible to persons with disabilities, according to a recent survey.

Conducted in June by Hannon Hill Corp., a maker of web content-management solutions, the study examined the web sites of the top 124 universities in the United States, as ranked in U.S. News and World Report's annual account. Of these 124 schools, only 17 were found to have web sites that comply with the World Wide Web Consortium's (W3C's) accessibility standards.

Those not passing had an average of 45 errors each on their home pages, Hannon Hill said. Each error indicates a standard was not followed.

W3C's guidelines are widely regarded as the industry standard for web accessibility. They are meant to give persons with disabilities unfettered access to web sites.

People who are visually impaired must rely on electronic screen readers to read web pages to them, explained David Cummings, chief executive officer of Hannon Hill. Those with severe myopia might use screen magnifiers or text-enlarging browser settings. Color-blind individuals will miss the nuances communicated by color and must look for other indicators that convey the same meaning, while people whose motor skills are impaired generally rely on keyboard shortcuts for navigation.

These individuals all must rely on assistive technology to help them navigate the web and find the information they need--and how a web page is coded can have a significant impact on this process.

"By upholding W3C web-site standards, colleges take the same approach to making a web site accessible as they would to making physical walkways and structures accessible to persons with disabilities," said Cummings, whose company has a financial incentive in publishing the survey results: It sells a product, called the Cascade Server, that provides an automatic checker to ensure that all web content managed with the solution is standards-compliant.

The list of schools whose web sites reportedly fall short of W3C standards includes some of the top liberal-arts and technical schools in the nation, such as Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Northwestern, Duke, the University of Pennsylvania, and California Institute of Technology.

Of the schools whose web sites failed Hannon Hill's accessibility test, only the University of Vermont responded to an eSchool News reporter's questions before press time.

"While I can't say we are where we'd like to be across the board, we do excel in many areas and go beyond what many 'automated' validation software packages can verify," said the school's Tatjana Salcedo. "We ... strive to improve in these areas and will continue to do so in each successive generation of web technology we implement."

Continue

Axistive Assistive Technology News Portal

2006-10-15T11:00:00.000-07:00

Axistive Assistive Technology News Portal offers free news, articles, product reviews and all product and vendor information of assistive technology devices.
Link to Source

The 2nd United Nations World Water Development Report: 'Water, a shared responsibility'

2006-09-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

And they did it again.
The World Water Assessment Programme ignored disabled people in the first World Water report in 2003. The 2006 report ignores them again. Disability only really shows up in the word "Disability Adjusted Life Years" which is prevalent in the report.

Link to Source

Down Syndrome births drop in state:

2006-09-03T15:20:00.000-07:00

Sunday, 09/03/06
Decline suggests abortions up in wake of better tests

By CLAUDIA PINTO
Staff Writer

Amid new testing procedures during pregnancy, the percentage of babies born with Down syndrome has plummeted nationwide since the late 1980s, researchers have found.

The trend — which is less pronounced in Tennessee than elsewhere — suggests to some researchers that more women are opting to terminate Down syndrome pregnancies, raising alarm among some ethicists and disability rights advocates.

Tennessean.com Link to Source

Draft Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities -(Advance Unedited Version) -

2006-08-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

The draft convention seems to be online now. Have a look at give your comments.

Link to original Source

Atlas of Poverty

2006-08-30T10:01:00.000-07:00

Where the Poor Are: An Atlas of Poverty brings together a diverse collection of maps from different continents and countries, depicting small area estimates of vital development indicators at unprecedented levels of spatial detail.

The atlas is a product of the CIESIN Global Poverty Mapping Project, begun in 2004, which was made possible by support from the Japan Policy and Human Resource Development Fund, in collaboration with The World Bank. The atlas of 21 full-page poverty maps reveals possible causal patterns and provides practical examples of how the data and tools have been used, and may be used, in applied decisions and poverty interventions.

Link to the original Source

Nanowater

2006-08-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

Hi everybody,
my next column is available. It includes the issue of disabled people and water and sanitation
Click here

for history and future columns see
http://www.bioethicsanddisability.org/column.html
Any comments welcome
Cheers
Gregor

'Stop neglecting us in public transport plans, please'

2006-08-29T10:53:00.000-07:00

Kimberley Lau

KUALA LUMPUR: Eight organisations representing the disabled want their needs to be prioritised when the government builds new monorail systems in Penang, Johor and Putrajaya.

Reiterating their earlier disappointment over the disabled-unfriendly KL Monorail, Anthony Thanasayan of Access and Inclusion for the Disabled said they wanted the disabled to be included in committees that are responsible for the development of the new monorail or light rail transit projects.

He said such a move will benefit some 170,000 registered disabled persons in Malaysia.

"We want the government to give disabled persons access to the country through means of public transport and buildings. Without this, getting a job or going to school is out of the question," he said.

He was speaking in a press conference today (Aug 29, 2006) to highlight the fact that the disabled, until today, still lag far behind non-disabled persons, even though the country is celebrating 49 years of independence.

Representatives from seven other organisations were also present. They related personal accounts of how unfriendly public places are to them.

Thanasayan said the lack of suitable public transportation for disabled citizens remains one of the most neglected issues.

He insisted the disabled be considered in the upcoming budget.

"Last year's budget included as many as 200 new buses for the general public. As equal citizens of the country, we ask that the government ensure that the new buses are wheelchair accessible.

"These are normal buses that are used by able-bodied persons. All we ask is that two seats are secured for the disabled and that some include lifts for those on wheelchairs," he said, adding that such disabled-friendly buses have been in use in Vietnam, Thailand, China and India for many decades.

"It is a crying shame that after half a century of independence, Malaysians with disabilities still don't have the freedom to travel around independently and have to remain stuck at home, forced to be a burden to society."

Some disabled needs:

> Traffic lights with bleepers on all roads;
> Even pavements without obstructions (e.g. trees, uncovered manholes, stalls);
> Consistent ramps and rails in buildings;
> Voice announcements and braille buttons and tickets in lifts and ticketing machines
> Monthly allowance to help meet basic living expenses;
> Car park lots located near to entrances of shops, malls and other places that are properly covered; and
> Trained personnel who know how to assist a disabled person.

Link to original Source

Nanotech bio-battery to power rtificial retina

2006-08-28T19:09:00.000-07:00

Permalink: Nanotech bio-battery to power artificial retina

AT UN, DELEGATES FINALIZE NEW TREATY PROTECTING RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

2006-08-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

AT UN, DELEGATES FINALIZE NEW TREATY PROTECTING RIGHTS OF PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES
New York, Aug 27 2006 10:00PM
After five years of negotiations, countries meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York have agreed on a new treaty to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

"This is the first convention of this magnitude for this century," UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said after the agreement was reached late Friday. He told the negotiators that they were conveying to the world "the message that we want to have a life with dignity for all and that all human beings are all equal."

"This marks a great day for the UN and for persons with disabilities," said New Zealand's Ambassador Don MacKay, who chaired the talks through its final sessions. "It's a good convention and it will make a difference for millions of people."

The successful completion of the treaty, after a day of intense negotiations and compromises that capped years of effort, was met with applause by well over a hundred government delegations and hundreds of representatives of disability organizations who participated in the process of crafting the 40-article pact.

Proponents of the convention maintained that the treaty was necessary because persons with disabilities represented one of the most marginalized groups and that their rights had been routinely ignored or denied throughout much of the world.

While the convention does not create new rights, it specifically prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities in all areas of life, including civil rights, access to justice and the right to education, health services and access to transportation.

The convention was largely approved by consensus, although there was a vote on a provision concerning "foreign occupation" that was included in the preamble.  With five countries voting against, the provision was adopted.

The convention will be formally sent to the General Assembly for adoption at its next session, which begins in September. It will then be open for signing and ratification by all countries.

It is estimated that 10 per cent of the world's population, or about 650 million people, suffer from disabilities.
Link to the original source

2006-08-27 00:00:00.000

Links to stories covering the UN Convention as of yet

2006-08-27T11:25:00.000-07:00

It is interesting who covered it as of yet and who didn't.
The below are results from a Google News search
UN panel okays treaty on rights of disabled
Times of India, India - 1 hour ago
UNITED NATIONS: A treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people cleared a key hurdle on Friday as a UN general assembly panel ...

UN agrees on rights for disabled
RTE.ie, Ireland - 26 Aug 2006
An international treaty to improve the rights and freedoms of disabled people has been agreed at the UN. The UN Convention on the ...

UN agrees landmark draft to protect disabled
Irish Examiner, Ireland - 26 Aug 2006
Racing against a deadline, negotiators completed the draft of the first United Nations convention to protect the rights of the world’s disabled people early ...

UN nears deal on measure protecting disabled
Newsweek - 26 Aug 2006
UNITED NATIONS - Racing against a Friday deadline, negotiators completed the draft of the first-ever UN convention to protect the rights of the world’s ...

UN agrees on rights for disabled
Aljazeera.net, Qatar - 25 Aug 2006
After five years, negotiators have completed the draft of the first ever UN convention to protect the rights of the world's disabled people. ...

Treaty on rights of disabled approved
Reuters.uk, UK - 25 Aug 2006
By Irwin Arieff. UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people cleared a key ...

Countries race to finish UN disabled rights treaty
Reuters AlertNet, UK - 25 Aug 2006
UNITED NATIONS, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Countries raced against the clock on Friday to finish drafting a United Nations treaty to protect the rights of the world's ...

UN to finalise disability treaty
BBC News, UK - 24 Aug 2006
By Geoff Adams-Spink. An international treaty that aims to give greater rights and freedoms to disabled people around the world is ...

Another United Nations Power Grab
The Conservative Voice, NC - 19 hours ago
The United Nations is expected to pass an international treaty that will give disabled people more rights. The idea is to replace ...

Treaty to protect disabled rights passes first hurdle
Radio New Zealand, New Zealand - 19 hours ago
A treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people cleared a key hurdle on Saturday when a United Nations General Assembly panel ...

Equal rights for the disabled
Gulf News, United Arab Emirates - 20 hours ago
A special committee at the UN has agreed upon a treaty to protect the rights of disabled people around the world. Called the UN ...

UN Passes More Disabled Rights
All Headline News - 26 Aug 2006
(AHN) - The United Nations agreed on an international treaty that will hand people with disabilities more rights. The idea, essentially ...

UN disability treaty approved
InTheNews.co.uk, UK - 26 Aug 2006
The draft text of a convention protecting the world's 650 million disabled people from discrimination was approved by a UN General Assembly panel yesterday and ...

UN agrees on rights of disabled
DailyIndia.com, NY - 26 Aug 2006
By Xinhua. United Nations, Aug 26 (Xinhua) A UN General Assembly committee agreed on the draft text of a treaty to protect the rights ...

Cautious optimism as talks on UN disability treaty near end
UN News Centre - 25 Aug 2006
25 August 2006 – The chair of the negotiations on a new United Nations convention to protect the rights of persons with disabilities said he was confident ...

UN Negotiators Hold Marathon Talks On Rights Of Disabled
Easy Bourse (Communiqués de presse), France - 24 Aug 2006
UNITED NATIONS (AP)--In marathon negotiations ahead of a Friday deadline, negotiators drafting the first UN convention to protect the rights of the world's ...

Disability pact passes UN panel
CNN - 26 Aug 2006
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -- A treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people cleared a key hurdle as a UN General Assembly panel ...

UN panel approves disabled rights treaty
Sydney Morning Herald, Australia - 25 Aug 2006
A treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people cleared a key hurdle as a UN General Assembly panel approved a draft text of the ...

UN approves disabled treaty draft
TVNZ, New Zealand - 25 Aug 2006
A treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people cleared a key hurdle on Friday as a UN General Assembly panel approved a draft text ...

UN panel approves treaty on rights of disabled
Reuters AlertNet, UK - 25 Aug 2006
By Irwin Arieff. UNITED NATIONS, Aug 25 (Reuters) - A treaty to protect the rights of the world's 650 million disabled people cleared ...

Another UN Power Grab
Men's News Daily, CA - 23 minutes ago
by Jim Kouri, CPP. The United Nations is expected to pass an international treaty that will give disabled people more rights. The ...

Another United Nations Power Grab Expected
American Chronicle, CA - 2 hours ago
Jim Kouri, CPP is fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and served in law enforcement for over 25 years. ...

CAUTIOUS OPTIMISM AS TALKS ON UN DISABILITY TREATY NEAR END
Harold Doan and Associates (press release), CA - 4 hours ago
The chair of the negotiations on a new United Nations convention to protect the rights of persons with disabilities said he was confident that a deal could be ...

Another United Nations Power Grab
NewsByUs, ID - 6 hours ago
By Jim Kouri, CPP on Aug 27, 2006. The United Nations is expected to pass an international treaty that will give disabled people more rights. ...

Op-Ed: Another United Nations Power Grab Expected
AXcess News, NV - 17 hours ago
By Jim Kouri. (AXcess News) New York - The United Nations is expected to pass an international treaty that will give disabled people more rights. ...

UN agrees on rights of disabled
India eNews.com, India - 26 Aug 2006
United Nations, Aug 26 (Xinhua) A UN General Assembly committee agreed on the draft text of a treaty to protect the rights of the world’s 650 million ...

Disability treaty passed by UN
InTheNews.co.uk, UK - 26 Aug 2006
A new landmark UN treaty protecting the rights of disabled people worldwide has been agreed upon in New York. The draft text of ...

UN agrees diasbility treaty text
Trade Arabia, Bahrain - 26 Aug 2006
An international treaty that will give greater rights and freedoms to disabled people around the world has been agreed at the UN. ...

UN agrees disability treaty text
Haber Sağlık, Turkey - 25 Aug 2006
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted in New York. This is the first human rights treaty of the ...

UN agrees on disability treaty text

2006-08-26T08:12:00.000-07:00

UN agrees on disability treaty text

By Geoff Adams-Spink

An international treaty that will give greater rights and freedoms to
disabled people around the world has been agreed at the United Nations.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was adopted
in New York.

This is the first human rights treaty of the 21st Century, and the UN
hopes it will mark a significant improvement in the treatment of
disabled people.

The world's disabled population is estimated to be 650 million.

Negotiations went past the deadline set by the chairman of the ad-hoc
committee, ambassador Don MacKay of New Zealand.

Welcoming the agreement, he said "I want to thank colleagues from the
disability community for starting off the process and staying with it
all along the way."

"As disabled colleagues say, nothing about us without us."

''It [the convention] will force states to develop a different way of
thinking about disability issues" he said.

"Once you get the paradigm shift... and people adopt a 'can do' rather
than a 'can't do' approach, a whole lot of other things flow from
there."

New rights and freedoms

The treaty is expected to be adopted by the UN General Assembly during
its next session, which starts in September.

Those countries that sign up to it will have to enact laws and other
measures to improve disability rights and also agree to get rid of
legislation, customs and practices that discriminate against disabled
people.

The thinking behind the convention is that welfare and charity should be
replaced by new rights and freedoms.

Currently only 45 countries have specific legislation that protects
disabled people.

The convention recognises that a change of attitude is vital if disabled
people are to achieve equal status - countries that ratify it will be
obliged to combat negative stereotypes and prejudices and to promote an
awareness of people's abilities and contribution to society.

Countries will also have to guarantee that disabled people will have a
right to life on an equal basis with others.

Access to public spaces and buildings as well as transport, information
and communications will also have to be improved.

US abstention

Most notable among the countries that will not be signing the convention
is the United States.

It says that it already has comprehensive laws on disability rights.

But this is not something that concerns Maria Raina, co-ordinator of the
international disability caucus which has been part of the negotiations.

"I think the USA is going to sign the convention as it did with other
conventions," she told the BBC News website.

"When you sign the convention you are agreeing to the principles even if
you don't have the obligation to apply them."

'Welcome step'

The treaty has been welcomed by the UK's statutory body, the Disability
Rights Commission (DRC).

"The greatest significance will be a 'levelling up' of provision across
the world, and the creation of civil and human rights for disabled
people," said DRC chairman Bert Massie.

"Not every country has that now. Following the convention and when it's
ratified by the UN, we will have approval for this enhancement of the
rights of disabled people across the world."

Although current estimates are that about 10% of the world's population
has a disability, the World Health Organization estimates that this is
likely to increase as a result of medical advances and the ageing
process.

Negotiations had been delayed because of two issues: the situation of
disabled people in situations of risk, and access to sexual and
reproductive health services.

Although the treaty refers to "situations of risk", these were not
specified; the wording had been taken to refer to war zones and natural
disasters but some people wanted this to include occupation by a foreign
power - a clear reference to the situation in the Middle East.

Cultural differences on matters like abortion, contraception, aids
prevention and sex education mean that reaching an agreed position was
particularly difficult.

Given the economic, social and cultural differences across the world, it
will be some years before the minimum standards set out in the
convention will be universally applied.

But for campaigners who say that for too long the world's largest
minority has been pushed to the margins of society, it will certainly be
seen as a welcome first step.
Link to original source

First Post

2006-08-25T23:53:00.000-07:00

This new blog will be the public space of the International Network for Social Research on Disability. We hope for lively comments on our postings.