Welcome to the August 2011 Edition of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium’s (ADDC) Newsletter.  The intent of the Newsletter is to update Members on ADDC activities and is only published 2 to 3 times a year, whereas the ADDC Bulletin is information from around the world relating to disability in development and distributed at least twice a month. 

This edition will provide updates on ADDC activity throughout 2011 in relation to our main objectives, as well as providing information about activities our Members have been involved in.

Download here: ADDC Newsletter August 2011

Welcome to the ADDC Bulletin Update. Generic disability and domestic information will be included in our Bulletins when possible as part of our commitment to disability advocacy and strengthening partnerships: however our focus remains on disability & development issues.

This Bulletin provides updates on the following:

 o   World Report on Disability-Australian launch

o   Development Bulletin:

o   International Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3 December 2011

o   Saving Lives with a Simple Vaccination

o   Speech to Global Alliance on Vaccines & Immunisation Conference

o   Request for Support from the Philippines

o   Investing in Fight Against Poverty Brings Results, General Assembly Hears.

o   News from Our Pacific Friends-

• IASSID Database on Studies being Conducted on Intellectual Disabilities in Asia Pacific Region

 Conferences & Events

 o   Journal Disability and International Development: Call for Contributions

o   The Polio Research Committees call for Proposals

o   Forthcoming disability-related events at UN Headquarters in New York

o   Employment & Funding Opportunities

o   Global Disability Rights Library

o   CBM Australia- Seeking Program Officer

o   Cambodian Trust-Communications and Fundraising Manager.

 Resources

 o   Strategising Online Activism: A Toolkit

o   Working with the United Nations Human Rights Programme. A Handbook for Civil Society

 For link to Bulletin:   ADDC Bulletin June 25th 2011

Organisations are responding to the release of the much awaited  World Disability Report in different ways.

Follow this link to see how:Responses to World Report on Disability Globally

The first ever World report on disability, produced jointly by WHO and the World Bank, suggests that more than a billion people in the world today experience disability.
People with disabilities have generally poorer health, lower education achievements, fewer economic opportunities and higher rates of poverty than people without disabilities. This is largely due to the lack of services available to them and the many obstacles they face in their everyday lives.

The report provides the best available evidence about what works to overcome barriers to health care, rehabilitation, education, employment, and support services, and to create the environments which will enable people with disabilities to flourish. The report ends with a concrete set of recommended actions for governments and their partners.
This pioneering World report on disability will make a significant contribution to implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At the intersection of public health, human rights and development, the report is set to become a “must have” resource for policy-makers, service providers, professionals, and advocates for people with disabilities and their families

Link to World Disability Report:www.who.int/disabilities/world_report

Link to ADDC Media Release:10062011- ADDC MEDIA RELEASE World Disability Report launch

The World Report on Disability is a major publication from the World Health Organization and World Bank, to be launched on 9 June 2011 in New York. The Report explores current evidence about disability, identifies needs, and highlights what works to improve the lives of people with disabilities in areas including health, rehabilitation, support, environments, education and employment. This Playlist will include the four World Report promotional films on the theme of “What’s disability to me?”, together with other films which share the human rights emphasis of our disability work. Video submissions from people with disabilities are welcome.

The Australian Disability & Development Consortium, together with ACFID, is holding a luncheon event at Parliament House, Canberra to

• Celebrate the launch of the World Report on Disability
• Acknowledge the foundation of disability-inclusive practices laid by Mr McMullan
• Launch the new edition of the Development Bulletin
• Learn key practical ways Australia can continue to build on these
• Commit to Australia’s ongoing leadership in disability-inclusive practices

Link for further information: Web file- All for Development- Disability Inclusion in Action

Link to PDF doc: Study on challenges and good practices in the implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities VC20081214

The  Study on Challenges and Good Practices in the implementation of the UN  Convention on the  Rights of Persons with Disabilities‟ (hereinafter  referred to  as „the study‟) was carried out by the European Foundation Centre (EFC)  representing the European Consortium of Foundations on Human Rights and Disability for the Unit for the Integration of People with Disabilities (Unit G3) of the Directorate-General Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities (DG EMPL), under the Contract No VC/2008/1214, during the period January 2009 to February 2010.

 
The study aimed to analyse in detail the obligations set forth in the Convention, and in particular to gather information about the various practices related to the  implementation of the Convention by the EU and its Member States. The goal was to identify challenges that may hinder the full and effective  implementation  of the  Convention, and measures that would facilitate the achievement of its objectives („good practices‟). The study is designed to support the objectives of the current EU Disability Action Plan with its emphasis on full participation and equal opportunities for all people with disabilities and to contribute to the preparation of the new EU disability strategy based more explicitly on the UN CRPD.

Link to report: Secretary_General_-_MDG_report-_July_2010

The present report is submitted pursuant to General Assembly resolutions 63/150 and 64/131, by which the Assembly requested a comprehensive biennial review on the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons and progress and challenges concerning the advancement of persons with disabilities in the context of development and the realization of the Millennium Development Goals. It consists of the introduction and five sections: section II contains the background to promoting the inclusion of disability in the Goals, including the implications of the global crises for persons with disabilities; section III examines the status of inclusion of disability and persons with disabilities concerning: (a) the ongoing Millennium Development Goal processes; (b) progress and challenges; and (c) monitoring and evaluation and Millennium Development Goal indicators; section IV outlines the options for updating the World Programme; and section V contains the overview of the current status of disability data and statistics. The report provides recommendations to advance disability-inclusive Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals by Member States and other stakeholders based on: (a) the international normative framework on disability, including the World Programme of Action, the Standard Rules and the Convention; (b) the existing Millennium Development Goal framework for implementation, monitoring and evaluation; and (c) the strengthened disability statistics for monitoring and evaluation of progress made in (a) and (b). The annexes provide further technical information as background in support of the recommendations: (a) options for updates of the World Programme of Action; and (b) future development and use of disability statistics in support of inclusive monitoring and evaluation of the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.

Link: Jones_addressing_attitudes_to_disability

Link to PDF file: MIW_Guideline_version_1_1_-_updated_8_09

Link to Word doc: MIW_Guideline_version_1.1_Text_only-_updated_8_09-_2003(word doc)

In most countries, there are significant gaps between the standards set by the CRPD – the standards of national policies – and the reality on the ground for people with disabilities.

To address this, some projects choose to:

• report violations of disabled people’s rights and campaign to hold the Government to account – or
• take a top-down approach – focus on national level policy with the view that this will eventually ‘trickle down’ to impact on people’s lives.

Making it Work adopts a different, more “bottom up” approach. By collecting examples of local, innovative practices that have impacted positively on the lives of people with disabilities, it is possible to make positive, concrete recommendations to Government about how to develop inclusive policies. The aim then, is to develop MIW projects that can make a direct connection between the CRPD and disabled people’s lives. This means to find out what has worked on the ground – then to replicate and scale up: from Good Practice to Good Policy.