APCD activities implemented from October-December 2004 started with the "Workshop for Strengthening the Community-based Rehabilitation Movement" from 20 October - 9 November 2004 with 16 participants from 3 countries, Lao PDR, Viet Nam, and Thailand. This was followed by "Training for Information and Communication for Visually Impaired Persons" from 23 November - 17 December 2004 with 9 participants from 6 countries, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal, Thailand, and Viet Nam. The quarter ended with the "Regional Training Seminar on Capacity Building of Self-help Organizations of Persons with Disabilities", which is the first regional training course APCD co-organized in Hanoi, Viet Nam.
For Networking and Collaboration, APCD sent missions to Samoa to identify focal points and associate organizations at the Governmental and Non-governmental levels related to disability issues. In accordance to this, APCD representatives joined the 16th World Federation of the Deaf Regional Secretariat Asia/Pacific Representatives Meeting held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 9-11 December 2004.
The APCD Information Support team is continuing to update the country disability profile especially on nonhandicapping environment, community-based rehabilitation, independent living, and information and communication technology in each country. Along with this, the Information Support team developed a webpage on the Asian Tsunami and Persons with Disabilities Information Support to provide information on disability issues from the tsunami tidal wave disaster to related-organizations through the APCD website.
Happy Birthday to APCD on its 2nd anniversary! APCD is delighted to be implementing activities for persons with disabilities in developing countries of the Asia and Pacific Region to empower and create a barrier-free society for them.
APCD activities from July to September 2004 began with the "Regional Workshop on Accessible Web-based Information Networking" with 22 participants from 10 countries from 22 June to 9 July 2004. This was followed by the "Thai Non-Governmental Organizations Forum" organized to network with disability-related organizations in Thailand. The next APCD training course from 10-30 August 2004 was the "Training of Initiators for Self-help Groups of Persons with Disabilities towards Rights-based and Sustainable Community Development" with 18 participants from Cambodia, Myanmar, and Thailand. For Networking and Collaboration, APCD sent missions to the People's Republic of China, the Kingdom of Bhutan, and the Republic of the Philippines to identify focal points and associate organizations at the Governmental and Nongovernmental levels related to disability issues.
Regarding building networks and collaboration, APCD organized the "Seminar for South-to-South Cooperation for the Decade of Persons with disabilities: An Orientation to APCD" inviting potential disability-related Government officers exchange disability-related information among the region. This seminar also included representatives from South African countries and a resource person from the Arab region who shared their countries' situation on the Decade of Disabled Persons. The APCD Information Support team has uploaded the additional country profiles to the website. Countries now uploaded are Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
Believe it or not!APCD is almost 2 years old and growing fast as can be seen by our activities. From April to June 2004, APCD has continued to implement activities to empower persons with disabilities and promote a barrier-free society.APCD is building networks and cooperation with disability-related governmental and non-governmental organizations in Pakistan and Malaysia that have expressed keen interest in our activities. APCD's Human Resources Development team was sent on monitoring missions to 6 developing countries in the Asia- Pacific region to follow-up former participants of APCD training courses.The team was most impressed to see progress in developing disability-related programs and projects in each country.Regarding Information Support activities, APCD organized a Regional Workshop on Accessible Web-based Information Networking 2004 (report will be provided in APCD Empowerment Volume 9, October 2004)from 22 June to 9 July.Twenty-two participants from 10 countries focused on information management, networking, and accessibility. Also, APCD has uploaded the Disability Country Profiles related to disabilities into its website.
Since the beginning of 2004, APCD has continually implemented activities to empower and promote a barrier-free society for PWDs in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region. A brief summary of the activities from January-March 2004 include:
