ENABLE NEWSLETTER: SPECIAL ISSUE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY ON DISABILITY AND DEVELOPMENT, 23 SEPTEMBER 2013
Also available online at: www.un.org/disabilities. In this issue: - Overview - Programme - Civil Society Participation - Media - Side-events - Accessibility information - General information - Annex: Outcome document OVERVIEW The High-level meeting of the General Assembly on disability and development (HLMDD) will be held at UN Headquarters on 23 September, the day prior to the commencement of the General Debate of the 68th session of the General Assembly. The theme of the HLMDD will be: The way forward: A disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond. At the Meeting, Governments are expected to adopt an Outcome Document created to support the aims of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities. The Outcome Document is the result of extensive negotiations by Member States and input from organizations of persons with disabilities and other relevant stakeholders. Preparation has been ongoing since 2012, comprising of informal, online, and regional consultations. The agreed text of the Outcome Document is attached as an annex to this newsletter. PROGRAMME (Updates and the final list of speakers will be posted on the Enable website at: www.un.org/disabilities) 9 to 10 a.m.: Opening Plenary The HLMDD programme will begin with an opening plenary featuring statements by the President of the 68th session of the General Assembly Ambassador John W. Ashe, the Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Mr. Steve Wonder, UN Messenger of Peace, Mr. Yannis Vardakastanis, Chair of the European Disability Forum and Chairperson of the International Disability Alliance, and Ms. Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, the Chair of the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The plenary will include the presentation of the Outcome Document for adoption. The Opening Plenary will be followed by two round table discussions. 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Round Table 1 The theme of the discussion for Round Table 1 will be International and regional cooperation and partnerships for disability-inclusive development. The discussion will co-chaired by Philippines and Spain. 1 to 3 p.m.: Lunch A list of lunchtime side-events is posted below. See General Information below for food options. 3 to 5.30 p.m.: Round Table 2 The theme of Round Table 2 will be Post-2015 development agenda and inclusive development for persons with disabilities. This discussion will be co-chaired by Finland and Tunisia. 5.30 to 6 p.m.: Closing Plenary The final session concludes the HLMDD and includes a summary of the Days events. NOTE: The HLMDD will be held in the relocated General Assembly Hall in the North Lawn Building (NLB) inside the UN Headquarters Complex. Arrangements have been made for overflow rooms to accommodate delegates and representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs). Due to the ongoing renovations of the UN complex and the opening of the 68th session of the General Assembly, participants are reminded that space will be limited and access to parts of the complex may not be available. CIVIL SOCIETY PARTICIPATION Sunday, 22 September The registration process is now closed. Only those CSO representatives with numbered/barcoded confirmation letters and valid photo ID, will be allowed access to UN Headquarters to pick up Entry Passes on Sunday, 22 November 2013 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; entrance to UN Headquarters will be via the 46th street and 1st avenue entrance, where UN security will screen all guests. >From Sunday afternoon, all roads leading to the UN will be closed. Monday, 23 September On Monday, 23 September, the day of the HLMDD, access to UN Headquarters will be via 46th street at 2nd avenue. Only those with a non-transferable Entry Pass and photo ID will be allowed to enter the NYPD checkpoints at 2nd avenue and be escorted to the UN complex. UN Staff will be available at 47th street and 2nd avenue to provide information and assistance. Urgent inquiries regarding registration can be directed to [email protected]. MEDIA The Media Accreditation and Liaison Unit (M.A.L.U.) provides accreditation to journalists who wish to cover activities at the United Nations in New York. More information about events, accreditation, and access is available online. (http://www.un.org/en/media/accreditation/UNGA68.shtml) The UN Department of Public Information in collaboration with DESA has produced a short video featuring Stevie Wonder, a UN Messenger of Peace and world renowned celebrity and performer. In the short video, Stevie Wonder calls on support for the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be "signed, sealed and delivered by all countries, for everyone's sake". (http://webtv.un.org/watch/stevie-wonder-supports-the-un-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/2553535888001/) In the lead up to the UN High-level Meeting on Disability and Development on 23 September, you are encouraged to share ideas on how to enable everyone, everywhere. Join the global conversation on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/unitednations) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/un using #hlmdd and #thisability) and submit your ideas! SIDE-EVENTS 23 September Breakfast Meeting on Disability in the Lifecycle: Investing in Children (7.30 to 8.45 a.m., Labouisse Hall, UNICEF House; Organizers: Permanent Missions of Australia and Mexico, and UNICEF) Eradicating Extreme Poverty: Addressing the disability disconnect (11 a.m. to 12.30 p.m., Secretariat, 27th floor, Room 27; Organizers: Disabled People International (DPI). Co - sponsors: UNDESA, The Hans Foundation, Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP), and the Permanent Mission of India). Challenges and Achievements in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for Women with Disabilities (1 to 3 p.m., UN Millennium Hotel - Riverview Room, 28th floor; Organizer: Kingdomof Saudi Arabia) The UN delivering as one in enabling a disability-inclusive developing agenda toward 2015 and beyond (1.15 to 2.30 p.m., NLB, CR 4, UN entrance on 46th/47th Street; Organizers: Inter-Agency Support Group for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) Progress from poverty and social exclusion towards independent living of persons with disabilities (1.15 to 2.45 p.m., NLB, CR 5; Organizers: Swedish Ministry for Disability Issues, European Network on Independent Living, Stockholm Cooperative for Independent Living). NCDs and Disability: Creating synergies, reducing inequalities, advancing development (1.15 to 2.30 p.m., ECOSOC Chamber, Conference Building Organizers: Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Permanent Mission of Costa Rica to the UN, Pan American Health Organization, NCD Alliance) Assistive technology to open the door (1.15 to 2.30 p.m., NLB, CR 8 Organizers: Philippines, WHO, DESA, International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics, and Rehabilitation International) Community, Rights-Based and Disability-Inclusive Development (1.15 to 2.30, NLB, CR 6, Organizers: The Government of Japan, and The Royal Thai Government). Innovation Enables (1.15 to 2.45 p.m., Turkish Center, 8th floor; Organizers: Ministry of Family and Social Policies of Turkey, Vodafone Turkey, Peugeot Turkey) Press Conference of issuing commemoration stamps Break Barriers, Open Doors (2 p.m., Press Briefing Room, 2nd Floor, Conference Building Organizers: Government of China and UN Postal Administration) 24 September Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities (Day long event, UNICEF House, 44th St between 1st and 2nd Ave; Organizers: UNICEF) Towards an inclusive and accessible future for all: Voices of persons with disabilities on the post-2015 development framework (1.15 to 2.30 p.m., Labouisse Hall, UNICEF House, 44th St between 1st and 2nd Ave; Organizer: UN Partnership for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities). Disaster and Disability: Lessons from Japan (6 to 9 p.m. Lang Recital Hall, Hunter College, 695 Park Ave; Organizers: Japan Disability Forum (JDF) in cooperation with the Nippon Foundation) Reception and launch of the UNPRPD publication: Towards an Inclusive and Accessible Future for All: Voices of persons with disabilities on the post-2015 development framework (7 to 8.30 p.m., Labouisse Hall, UNICEF House, 44th St between 1st and 2nd Ave; Organizers: UN Partnership for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities). 25 September Reception Event with VIP speakers and music under the theme: Including People with Disabilities in the UN Development Agenda (6 to 8 p.m., UNHQ, Fourth Floor South Dining Room; Organizers: International Disability Alliance (lDA), International Disability and Development Consortium (IDDC), and the Permanent Mission of Norway to the United Nations) A description of side-events to the HLMDD is available at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1613. ACCESSIBILITY INFORMATION At the HLMDD, the following will be available to participants: Assistive devices, such as hearing loops; wheelchair charging stations (120/240V) and wireless Internet access is available free. Accessible New York City:For information about accessibility services, including transportation, restaurants, hotels, wheelchair & scooter rentals, etc. please visit http://accessiblenyc.org. GENERAL INFORMATION Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs): 1st and 2nd floors of the North Lawn Building. Banks: United Nations Federal Credit Union (UNFCU): 2 UN Plaza, 3rd Floor; J.P. Morgan Chase Bank: One United Nations Plaza. Food services: Café Austria: NLB (2nd floor); Secretariat Cafeteria: UN Secretariat Bldg; Vending Machines: NLB (1st floor) Medical Services:Emergency medical assistance will be available. Restrooms:Accessible restrooms for women and men are available on the 1st and 2nd floors of the NLB. NOTE: The HLMDD will be held in the relocated General Assembly Hall in the North Lawn Building (NLB) inside the UN Headquarters Complex. Arrangements have been made for overflow rooms to accommodate delegates and representatives of civil society organizations (CSOs). Due to the ongoing renovations of the UN complex and the opening of the 68th session of the General Assembly, participants are reminded that space will be limited and access to parts of the complex may not be available. ANNEX OUTCOME DOCUMENT (Draft General Assembly resolution A/68/L.1) Outcome Document of the High Level Meeting on the Realization of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities: The Way Forward, a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond I. Values and Principles 1. We, the Heads of State and Government, have gathered at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 23 September 2013, to reaffirm our resolve to work together for disability inclusive development and the commitment of the international community to the advancement of the rights of all persons with disabilities which is deeply rooted in the goals of the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. 2. We reaffirm the need for the realization of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities towards 2015 and beyond and recognize persons with disabilities as agents and beneficiaries of development acknowledging the value of their contribution for the general well being, progress and the diversity of society. 3. We are concerned that this commitment has yet to be fully translated into the inclusion of disability in internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals and, as 2015 approaches, strongly reiterate our determination to ensure the timely realization of the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities who make up an estimated 15 per cent of the worlds population, or 1 billion people of whom an estimated 80 per cent live in developing countries. In this regard, we stress the importance of ensuring accessibility for and inclusion of persons with disabilities in all aspects of development and of giving due consideration to all persons with disabilities in the emerging post-2015 United Nations development agenda. II. Realizing the Development Goals for persons with disabilities towards 2015 and beyond 4. We underline the need for urgent action by all relevant stakeholders towards the adoption and implementation of more ambitious disability inclusive national development strategies and efforts with disability targeted actions, backed by increased international cooperation and support, and resolve to undertake the following commitments leading to 2015 and beyond: a) Achieve the full application and implementation of the international normative framework on disability and development by encouraging the ratification and implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and by considering the ratification of its Optional Protocol, as both human rights and development instruments; b) Ensure that all development policies, including those regarding poverty eradication, social inclusion, full and productive employment and decent work and access to basic social services, and their decision making processes take into account the needs of and benefit all persons with disabilities, including women, children, youth, indigenous peoples and older persons who can be subject to violence and multiple or aggravated forms of discrimination; c) Develop specific plans, including, when necessary, the enactment or amendment and enforcement of national legislation, the harmonization of national legislative, policy and institutional structures and the adoption and implementation of national plans relevant to the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed goals to advance the inclusion of persons with disabilities; d) Recognize the right to education on the basis of equal opportunity and non-discrimination by making primary education accessible, free and compulsory and available to all children with disabilities on an equal basis with others, and ensuring that all children have equal opportunity for access to an inclusive education system of good quality, and making early and secondary education generally available and accessible to all in particular for children with disabilities from low income families; e) Ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities to healthcare services including primary healthcare and specialized services, including by investing in and improving affordability of such services for persons with disabilities; f) Strengthen social protection for meeting disability-related needs, and promote access to relevant schemes based on social protection floors, on an equal basis with others, including income support, access to appropriate and affordable services, devices and other assistance; g) Encourage Member States to take sustainable measures to ensure equal access to full and productive employment and decent work on an equal basis and without discrimination to persons with disabilities including through promoting access to inclusive education system, skills development and vocational and entrepreneurial training to enable persons with disabilities to attain and maintain maximum independence; h) Ensure accessibility following the universal design approach by removing barriers to the physical environment, transportation, employment, education, health, services, information and assistive devices such as information and communications Technologies (ICTs) including in remote or rural areas, to achieve the fullest potential throughout the whole life cycle of persons with disabilities; i) Improve disability data collection, analysis and monitoring for development policy planning, implementation and evaluation, fully taking into account regional contexts; share, where appropriate, relevant data and statistics with relevant agencies and bodies within the United Nations system including the Statistical Commission, through appropriate mechanisms and underline the need for internationally comparable data and statistics disaggregated by sex and age, including information on disability; j) Strengthen and support, in coordination with academic institutions and other relevant stakeholders, research to promote knowledge and understanding of disability and development, and adequately and efficiently allocate resources in this regard; k) Urge Member States, the United Nations system and humanitarian actors in accordance with their relevant mandates to continue to strengthen the inclusion of and focus on the needs of persons with disabilities into humanitarian programming and response, and include accessibility and rehabilitation as essential components in all aspects and stages of humanitarian response including through strengthening preparedness and disaster risk reduction; l) Encourage increased understanding, knowledge and greatest social awareness towards persons with disabilities, inter alia, by developing and implementing communication and social media campaigns by and in conjunction with persons with disabilities and organizations of persons with disabilities, in order to promote positive perceptions of persons with disabilities and seek to eliminate discriminatory social and attitudinal barriers so that they participate fully in society; m) Strengthen national efforts, including with the appropriate support of international cooperation, upon request, aimed at addressing the rights and needs of women and children with disabilities and the realization of the internationally agreed development goals and commitments related to gender equality and to the rights of the child; n) Encourage regional and international development banks and financial institutions, consistent with their mandates, to include disability across their development efforts and lending mechanisms, taking into account that persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected also during economic crises; o) Encourage the mobilization of public and private resources on a sustainable basis to mainstream disability in development at all levels, and underline the need to promote and strengthen international cooperation and exchange of good practices, including regional and sub-regional cooperation, and South-South and triangular cooperationas a complement to rather than a substitute for North-South cooperation, and partnerships for disability inclusive development, in support of national efforts by, among others, ensuring that resources, capacity building, technical assistance including by facilitating access to and sharing of accessible and assistive technologies and through the transfer of technology on mutually agreed terms and other interventions advance disability inclusive development, ensure accessibility for persons with disabilities and promote their empowerment. Special attention should be paid to developing countries which are experiencing increasing difficulties in mobilizing adequate resources to meet pressing needs in mainstreaming disability in development including rehabilitation, habilitation, equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities, health promotion and public health campaigns for the prevention of diseases and in addressing social, environmental and health risk factors through, inter alia, improving health care, maternal health, access to vaccination, access to clean water supply and sanitation and safe transport; p) Encourage private sector entities to partner with the public sector and civil society, in particular, organizations of persons with disabilities, to integrate, adopt and implement a disability perspective in accordance with national plans, policies and priorities in their corporate social responsibility initiatives (CSR); q) Support the objectives of the United Nations Partnership on the Promotion of Rights of Persons with Disabilities Multi Donor Trust Fund, including through voluntary contributions and encourage other stakeholders to do so. III. Follow up of the Outcome Document of the HLM on Disability and Development: The Way Forward, a disability inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond 5. We urge the United Nations system as well as Member States to stay engaged in the realization of the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals for persons with disabilities towards 2015 and beyond and encourage the international community to seize every opportunity to include disability as a crosscutting issue in the global development agenda and to give due consideration to disability inthe emerging post 2015 UN development agenda with a view to enhance cooperation, and to provide relevant technical assistance to Member States upon their request. 6. We call upon the Economic and Social Council to give due consideration to the issue of disability and development including within the framework of UN operational activities, in accordance with relevant mandates, in order to enhance awareness and cooperation at all levels, including the participation, where appropriate, of UN agencies, multilateral development banks and institutions, and other relevant stakeholders, while ensuring coordination and avoiding possible overlapping. 7. We take note of the inclusive preparatory process for this High level meeting including inter alia the online and regional consultations. 8. We request the Secretary-General in coordination with all the relevant UN entities, to include information on progress made in the implementation of the present outcome document in his existing and already mandated periodic reports on issues concerning disability and development, and to make recommendations, as appropriate, for concrete and further steps to implement the present outcome document within the context of the development agenda beyond 2015. 9. We underline the importance of closely consulting with and actively involving, as appropriate, persons with disabilities including through their representative organizations, as key actors and stakeholders in the elaboration, implementation and monitoring of the emerging post-2015 development agenda. 10. We request the General Assembly to include in its final review on the progress made towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, steps taken to implement the present outcome document. We also request the President of the General Assembly at its seventieth session to follow up on the status and progress made towards the realization of the development goals for persons with disabilities. --- Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ To unsubscribe send a message to [email protected] with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. Contents of the mails, factual, or otherwise, reflect the thinking of the person sending the mail and AI in no way relates itself to its veracity; 2. 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