APCD Activities in Brief (October-December 2003)
During the last quarter of the year 2003, APCD continued to implement activities towards the empowerment of persons with disabilities in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific Region with great effort. Related to Networking and Collaboration, APCD had a mission to Hyderabad and New Delhi, India from 20-28 November 2003. The Information Support team joined the mission to conduct information gathering and exchange information with representatives from disability-related organizations from several countries in the Asia-Pacific Region, who were participating in the 6th International Abilympics in New Delhi, India. Both missions succeeded in promoting APCD, and building networks and collaborating with associate organizations in India and other targeted countries. APCD was very pleased to welcome the Tibetan Deaf Group from Tibet and to join various regional workshops and seminars on disability-related issues; for example, the Asia and Pacific Disability Forum (APDF) Inaugural Meeting & Conference 2003, the World Blind Union, Asia-Pacific Regional General Assembly and Associate Events 2003 in Singapore, and other UN ESCAP disability-related meetings.
On 12 December 2003, APCD organized a Seminar for South-to-South Cooperation for Decades of People with Disabilities: Orientation to APCD. Participants from ten developing countries in the Asia-Pacific Region participated in this seminar along with delegates from 9 African countries to exchange information on the Decades of Persons with Disabilities.
Regarding human resource development activities, APCD is preparing for future regional workshops, like the Independent Living Seminar, the Non-Handicapping Environment Workshop for National Trainers and Policy Makers, and the Workshop on Human Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and Psychiatric Disabilities, all to be held early in 2004. Information Support considers the information exchange through the publication of the 5th and 6th Empowerment APCD Newsletters most helpful as well as making the APCD website accessible on disability-related issues. Also, APCD is working on the second set of country profiles, of Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines which will be publicized in the near future.
APCD will continue to work hard in 2004 towards the empowerment of persons with disabilities in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific Region.
APCD Activities in Brief (July-September 2003)
APCD is approaching the last quarter of the Year 2003. Within the past three months, APCD continually implemented activities towards the empowerment of and a barrier-free society for persons with disabilities in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Starting with APCD's networking and collaboration, APCD conducted a mission to Bangladesh from 1-5 July 2003 and a joint cooperation study mission with JICA's study team to Viet Nam in August. APCD was warmly welcomed by all organizations visited and was able to contact and network with more disabilityrelated organizations. Moreover, APCD developed closer responsibilities networking and collaboration with organizations in Thailand such as Ratchasuda College.
SHO participants during the field visit
Regarding APCD's human resource development activities, the HRD sub-division conducted two training workshops. First, the Regional Workshop on Web-based Networking was held from 21 July-1 August 2003 in close collaboration with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (NECTEC) and the UN ESCAP. Twentytwo persons with disabilities from eleven countries participated. The Capacity Building of Self-Help Organizations for Persons with Disabilities followed from 10-20 September 2003 with 24 participants from 6 countries in the region.
Activities of the Information Support sub-division consisted of the publication of the 4th Empowerment APCD newsletter, updates and the development of a website which will be more accessible for persons with disabilities as well as the publication of country profiles to be updated on the APCD website and utilized in the future resource room. Also, they organized the Regional Workshop on Web-based Networking in cooperation with the Human Resources Development sub-division.
APCD is now into its 2nd year with stability and commitment towards the empowerment of persons with disabilities who will become the "agents of change" in the near future.
Activities in Brief April - June 2003
Time flies! APCD has passed its first half of the year 2003, moving towards the second half of the year. During the past three months, APCD has implemented significant activities towards the empowerment of persons with disabilities (PWDs). Starting with the Information Support activities, as published in the third APCD newsletter, and continuously updating the APCD website to be friendly for all. These were followed by APCD’s networking and collaboration activities, including APCD’s mission in Myanmar from 14-17 May 2003, and mission in Cambodia from 19-20 June 2003. APCD received a warm welcome from both government and non-governmental organizations and agencies in both countries, and successfully identified focal point organizations. These show that APCD is working hard to bring the project out to the region, and will continuously implement this network and collaboration to meet all our targeted countries. Furthermore, APCD also visited related non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Thailand such as the National Association of the Deaf in Thailand and the Thailand Association of the Blind.
For the implementation of training programs, APCD held a regional training course on Community-based Rehabilitation (CBR) from 2-12 June 2003 in Chiang Mai Thailand. Twenty-one participants from five countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including Cambodia. lao PDR, Myanmar, Viet Nam, and Thailand joined in this training course
During the past three months, APCD was also honoured to welcome visitors from various groups and organizations, especially the H.E. Abdulah Wardak, Minister of Martyrs and Disabled, Government of Afghanistan.
Activities in Brief January-March 2003
Looking back to the first quarter of the Year 2003, APCD implemented many potential activities towards the Asian and Pacific region. Starting with the Independent Living Training course from 27 January to 1 February 2003with thirty-seven participants. Short-term experts from Japan were invited to monitor this training, which was held at the Thailand Cultural Centre and the Redemptorist Vocational School for the Disabled in Pattaya, Thailand. Following that, APCD held the 3rd Regional Training Course for Trainers on the Promotion of Non-handicapping Environment for Persons with Disabilities in Thailand from 25 February to 11 March 2003. APCD warmly welcomed thirty-one participants from 9 countries. This training course successfully met its goals and objectives. (Details of both training courses are provided in this newsletter.)
In addition to these training courses, APCD had its mission to build networks and collaborations with 3 countries in the Asia and Pacific region; Viet Nam, Fiji, and Lao PDR. APCD was proud to successfully identify focal point organizations in each country.
APCD Activities in Brief from October to December 2002
Mission to India
In October, several remarkable events for people with disabilities took place in Japan; the DPI 6th World Assembly in Sapporo, Campaign 2002/Osaka Forum in Osaka and the UN ESCAP High-Level Intergovernmental Meeting in Shiga. All these events, we believe, will help people with disabilities and encourage them to move forward into a new stage of development in the disability movement.
The above events were also especially meaningful for the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability Project (APCD Project), since our goals, visions and spirit were closely reflected in these events.
The APCD Project actively participated in those meetings as well. Mr. Ninomiya, Chief Adviser of the APCD, showed a video of APCD and gave presentation on the Project and Ms. Ito, JICA expert on human resource development, had a group session/discussion with a variety of participants from all over the world. The favorable responses from participants confirmed the significance of APCD’s programme for persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific Region.
The APCD Opening Ceremony was held at the United Nations Conference Center in Bangkok on 3 December 2002, the International Day for Disabled Persons, with approximately 300 participants. Excellent speeches were delivered by Mr. Chaturon Chaisaeng, the Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr. Anurak Chureemas, the Minister of Social Development and Human Security, and Ms. Keiko Okaido, Deputy Executive Secretary of ESCAP. In addition, Mr. Atsushi Tokinoya, the Japanese Ambassador andMr. Yutaka Fujimoto, Senior Vice-President of JICA extended congratulations on the opening of the project.
APCD representatives also participated in the Sixteenth National Conference on Mental Retardation in Calicut, Kerala, India from December 29-31, 2002. They gave a presentation on the APCD project, and exchanged knowledge, experiences and ideas with Indian colleagues.
