ADDC :: Australian Disability & Development Consortium

News & Events

ADDC 2008 Budget Press Release

Click here to read.

UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities to be Ratified

In an April 4th 2008 press release, top United Nations human rights and development officials today warmly welcomed the news that yesterday the first international convention on the rights of persons with disabilities got its twentieth ratification, meaning that the landmark treaty will now come into force on 3 May.

For further information, click here.

Invitation: Panel Discussion - Towards a ban on cluster bombs

Click here to download.

ALP and Coalition target disability in aid program

http://www.bobmcmullan.com/files/111007%20-%20Blindness%20Launch.pdf
http://www.bobmcmullan.com/files/071107%20-%20Blindness.pdf

'Labor MP, Bob McMullan and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Alexander Downer, have both identified disability as a priority for Australia's aid program. In media releases announcing plans to target avoidable blindness in the Pacific, McMullan and Downer both go on to highlight disability as a key issue for the region. This bipartisan support guarantees that long-neglected issue disability will move to the center of Australia's aid program as it should have long ago. "As a first step in developing a specific disability focus in the aid program, it represents an important shift from the past" said ACFID Executive Director, Paul O'Callaghan.

The ADDC Secretariat was notified directly by Mr Downer's and Mr McMullin's staff prior to these significant announcements with the ADDC and partners being praised for the work they have done to place the disability issue prominently on the aid agenda. More importantly, the ADDC now pledges to work with both sides of politics and AusAID after the 2007 Federal Election to ensure that the policy and strategy developed for integrating disability into our aid program represent a realistic approach for tackling disability in the region.'

Click to read Media Release from the Minister for Foreign Affairs - Alexander Downer.

ALP announces $45M support to blindness prevention in Pacific

The Hon Bob McMullan MP - Picture courtesy of Vision 2020 Australia

Left to right: John Beever, Brian Leyland, Brian Doolan, John Jeffries, Bob McMullan MP, Wolfgang Fischer, Jennifer Gersbeck, Brien Holden, Belinda Sullivan, Gabi Hollows, Bob Guest, Hugh Taylor. - Picture courtesy of Vision 2020 Australia

Left to right: Mathew Fagan, Mr Bob McMullan MP, Jennifer Gersbeck. - Picture courtesy of Vision 2020 Australia

HUMAN RIGHTS & EQUAL OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION HREOC: Collaboration best way to implement UN Disability Convention

Click here to read about the forum.

Mental health neglected worldwide

New research shows mental illness is neglected in the developing world and up to 800,000 commit suicide each year.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6977262.stm

Alice Springs Member Forum - A Great Success

Shadow Health Minister, Nicola Roxon MP, opened Vision 2020 Australia's fourth National Member Forum in Alice Springs on Thursday 26 July 2007. More than 60 representatives from the eye health and vision care sector came together to share ideas and build collaborations. With a special focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander eye health and vision care, members identified priorities for overcoming the problem of trachoma and considered best-practice solutions for outreach eye care, the management of diabetic retinopathy, the provision of low vision services and workforce and training needs. Key government representatives also took part in discussions during the day.

For further details, please go to the news section of the Vision 2020 Australia News page (http://www.vision2020australia.org.au/news.htm).

	Left to right: Nicola Roxon (Shadow Minister for Health), Andrew Stewart (President, RANZCO), Jennifer Gersbeck (CEO, Vision 2020 Australia), Brian Doolan (CEO, The Fred Hollows Foundation). - Picture courtesy of Vision 2020 Australia
	Left to right: Local Aboriginal children’s drumming group, Drum Atweme, perform at the Vision 2020 Australia Member Forum Dinner. - Picture courtesy of Vision 2020 Australia
	Left to right: Jennifer Gersbeck (CEO, Vision 2020 Australia), Pat Ansell-Dodds (Lhere Artepe Aboriginal Corporation), Worrelle Blow (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Island Advocacy Coordinator, Vision 2020 Australia). - Picture courtesy of Vision 2020 Australia

Australian Disability and Development Consortium Launch

ADDC was formally launched at Parliament House on Monday 26 February 2006. Over 100 people were in attendance including many representatives of disabled peoples organisations, international non-governmental organisations, disability organisations and politicians.

Feedback from the ADDC launch highlighted the the encouraging amount of political interest and enthusiasm for disability and development. The challenge for ADDC is to now turn this into action.

View the Photo Exhibition - Access for All Photographic Exhibition (PDF) or click here.

Hear the audio of the launch - Low quality MP3 (8MB) or High quality MP3 (15MB)

View the transcript of the launch - ADDC Launch 2006

	Speakers at the ADDC launch including Hon. Greg Hunt MP (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs), Senator Gary Humphries (Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Community Awareness), Mr Abdus Sattar Dulal (International Speaker, Bangladesh BPKS, disability NGO), and Mr Paul Deany (ADDC Coordinator). (Ken Baker, NDS, not pictured).
	The photographic exibibition had more than 35 positive images of disability from around the world.
	International Speaker Mr Abdus Sattar Dulal (Bangladesh BPKS, disability NGO)

Australian Senator calls on Parliament to support ADDC

Senator Garry Humphries has addressed Parliament on behalf of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium (ADDC), calling for stronger action from the Government in ensuring the needs of people with disabilities are included in overseas aid programs.

Senator Humphries launched the ADDC the Photo Exhibition, held at Parliament House Canberra on Monday, 26th February.

There has already been a very strong response to the ADDC, which is a national network of agencies working to promote the rights and inclusion of people with disability in developing countries.

In particular, an impressive 30 Federal Politicians have attended the launch along with a good representation from disability and development agencies from around the country. As well as MPs and Senators like Carmen Lawrence, Peter Garrett, Graham Edwards, Natasha Stott Despoja and Bob McMullan attending, the new Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Greg Hunt spoke at the launch.

These people have been spurred by the strong political interest ADDC is generating!

To read Senator Humphries' address to Parliament, click here (PDF).

Disability & Development in Caritas Australia

Recent training conducted:
Ms Kirsty Thompson, Disability Specialist from CBM International (Australia), Melbourne in conjunction with our overseas guest from Bangladesh, Md Abdus Sattar Dulal, who is the director of our partner agency Bangladesh Prothibandhi Kallyan Somithi, Bangladesh conducted a seminar/ workshop on Disability and Development for staff and Partners from PNG on 28th Feb 2007 at the National Office in Sydney.

This was planned to coincide soon after the Australian Disability and Development Consortium (ADDC) which was launched at Parliament House in Canberra on February 26, 2007 and to utilise Mr Sattar’s time who was invited to be the International Speaker for the launch and availability of Kirsty from CBMI. All staff at Caritas were given in advance a document for background reading on Disability and Development which provided a good overview of the key issues. The seminar for all staff ran for 1.5 hours and was an introduction to Disability and Development covering:

What do we mean by disability?
How is disability tied to development, emergency responses and poverty?
What does this mean for Caritas staff and Partners in their respective roles?

The staff and Partners present found it very useful in getting a clear introduction to understanding Disability in Development, how this fits in their roles and how to start thinking about ways of incorporating it in their work.

The following two hour workshop was more hands on and directed at Programs staff and the Partners from PNG. It looked at programmatic implications of disability across various sectors in emergencies and development programs. It was also interactive involving:

case studies, shared experiences etc. to look at the implications of disability inclusive programming in for example, education, child protection health care, vocational programs and income generation, water and sanitation.

Next Step:
Caritas Australia is currently internally discussing the possibility of establishing a Working Group on Disability with the objective of

Developing a Position Paper/Policy for Caritas Australia to guide the Management and staff to be sensitive and aware about general disability needs and concerns while dealing in general administration, building and human resource areas
Developing capacity of staff and partners to incorporate Disability in Development Programs and Humanitarian Response systems ie appraisals, monitoring formats enabling program staff in assessing emergency/humanitarian and development proposals.

The working group will consist of four to five members representing various teams across the Organization. There is also a proposal to get the expertise of Kirsty from CBMI who could be consulted as and when needed and maybe also someone from a DPO (Disabled People’s Organisation) based in Sydney.

Some of the urgent tasks that have been lined up for the next one year period are listed below:

In consultation with other organisations involved in disability issues such as World Vision Australia and Action Aid UK who already have a policy together with CBMI, our partner in Bangladesh (BPKS); define the guiding principles, values, priorities and other criteria including linkages to building capacity of staff and local partners.
Letter writing campaign through our contacts/parliamentarians regarding adopting UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities ( already drafted by our media person and available in our website)
Audit of our own working environment to ensure Caritas complies with all disability acts
Plan World Disability Day in December
Develop an appraisal process that provides an efficient and effective method of appraising development and emergency proposals
Getting a list of trainings available for staff as well as partners
Develop a separate folder on Disability for posting various resource materials/ information which would be accessible and use to all staff in the agency ( process commenced)
Getting further involved in the Photo Exhibition shown at Parliament House and being held in Sydney and Melbourne (send in more photos from our work)

Long Term goals for Caritas:
Caritas Australia’s long term goals on Disability and Development are to apply Disability codes in all international programs and to prepare promotions/media/communication strategies to leverage priority of Disability for the agency.

Other current activities:
Caritas Australia has a section on the homepage of their (new) website, entitled ‘Speak up for the rights of People with Disabilities’ which links to ways people can take action on this issue through letter writing campaigns, including tips for writing letters. It also links to Caritas Projects, Facts on Disability and Development and the ADDC launch. To check out the website, please click here.

A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities

Hesperon has recently published a new book: A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities. The Hesperian Foundation is a non-profit publisher of books and educational materials that help people take the lead in their own health care and organize to improve health conditions in their communities.

Women with disabilities often discover that the social stigma of disability and inadequate care are greater barriers to health than the disabilities themselves. A Health Handbook for Women with Disabilities will help women with disabilities overcome these barriers and improve their general health, self-esteem, and abilities to care for themselves and participate in their communities.

To find out more, click here.

© 2008 ADDC :: Australian Disability & Development Consortium.
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