ADDC :: Australian Disability & Development Consortium » News

ADDC, in partnership with CBM Australia, ACFID and PWD hosted a parliamentary breakfast on November 17th 2010 to promote disability inclusive development within the Australian Aid program.

Drawing attention to the needs of people with disabilities has been timely with the Government announcement of an independent review of the effectiveness of aid earlier this week.

The breakfast was well attended as noted by the Hon Kevin Rudd MP “…there is a very solid roll out from both sides of the aisle and from both houses of parliament ….. it’s great to see this level of roll out in political support across the spectrum for what is an important mission in Australia’s name”.

In his opening address, Mr. Rudd drew attention to the importance of Australia’s foreign aid and development programs. He acknowledged the efforts of many NGO’s in their efforts to ensure that people with disability are included in development programs and referred to the leadership Australia has demonstrated with the implementation of the’ Development For All: towards a disability-inclusive of Australian Aid Program 2009 to 2014’. He encouraged NGO’s to continue to ensure that ‘those with disabilities in developing countries have a proper international voice.’

The Government has committed to raising ODA to 0.5% of GNI by 2015 and Mr. Rudd assured the group they are on track and called for bipartisan support.

The breakfast was also addressed by Hon Therese Gambaro MP, Graeme Innes, the Australian Disability Commissioner; Jack de Groot, CEO Caritas; Jim Stallard, advocate and author; and Dimity Fifer, CEO AVI.

Borrowing Mr. Rudd’s closing statement, the joint efforts of ADDC and partnering NGO’s will “Continue to prod Government (us) effectively, but gently, so that we do more and do it more effectively together and bring about a material change to a better human kind”.

Download: Media Release - ADDC On Aid Review

Bulletin Updates 19th August 2010

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:57:23 +0000

World Humanitarian Day Edition

ADDC Bulletin Update August 19th 2010

ADDC BULLETIN: August 19th 2010

World Humanitarian Day Edition

ADDC acknowledges all the efforts, sacrifices and successes of aid workers around the world and encourages them to continue to ensure the needs of people with disabilities are considered and respected in all activities.

1. Please take time to view the pictures attached in link below. These have been supplied by one of Pakistan’s leading Disabled Persons’ Organisation when they visited the flood areas in Pakistan.
There are some picture of~1.docx‎ (512 KB‎)‎[Open as Web Page‎]
Source: Ghulam Nabi Nizamani

2. In an effort to raise public awareness of humanitarian assistance, the General Assembly has designated 19 August as World Humanitarian Day. The day honours those, who have lost their lives in humanitarian service and those, who continue to bring assistance and relief to millions. It also seeks to draw attention to humanitarian needs worldwide and to explain what humanitarian aid work entails. More

3. YouTube – ‪The 2010 World Humanitarian Day Project‬‎
This clip is a MUST WATCH- A collaborative film project for World Humanitarian Day 2010 featuring aid workers from across the globe.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojQOyo6lrMQ

4. Secretary-General’s Message for 2010
On World Humanitarian Day, we renew our commitment to life-saving relief efforts — and remember those who died while serving this noble cause.
People who have lived through terrible events are often left with nothing.
No family; no food; no shelter; no job.
Not even a passport or ID paper.
Nothing.
Humanitarian workers help them get back on their feet to restart their lives.
Aid workers are the envoys we send to show our solidarity with suffering.
They represent what is best in human nature. But their work is dangerous.
Often, they venture to some of the most perilous places on earth.
And often, they pay a heavy price. Harassment and intimidation. Kidnapping and even murder.
January’s earthquake in Haiti was a humanitarian catastrophe for the country.
It also had a devastating impact on aid workers.
The United Nations lost some of its most dedicated staff on that day.
On World Humanitarian Day, let us remember those in need…
Those who have fallen while trying to help them…
And those who continue to give aid, undeterred by the dangers they face — for the sake of building a safer, better world.
Ban Ki-moon
Source: United Nations

5. Human Rights Watch Fellowships

Human Rights Watch, the international human rights monitoring and advocacy organization, invites applications for its fellowship program. Human Rights Watch is known for its impartial and reliable human rights reporting on over 70 countries worldwide, its innovative and high-profile advocacy campaigns, and its success in affecting the policy of the US and other influential governments toward human rights abusers.

Fellows work full-time for one year with Human Rights Watch in New York, Washington, D.C., or London. (Aryeh Neier fellows work full-time in New York or Washington, DC, and, for an additional year at the ACLU.) Fellows monitor human rights developments in various countries, conduct on-site investigations, draft reports on human rights conditions, and engage in advocacy aimed at publicizing and curtailing human rights violations. Past fellows have conducted research and advocacy on numerous different issues in countries all over the world.

The salary for 2010-2011 fellows will be $55,000, plus excellent employer-paid benefits. The salary for 2011-2012 is currently under review and may be increased.

Source: Charlotte Vuyiswa McClain-Nhlapo

Resources
• UN Humanitarian Affairs
• Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
• Humanitarian News and Analysis (IRIN)
• Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC)
• UN World Food Programme (WFP)
• UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)
• UN Children’s Agency (UNICEF)
• World Health Organization (WHO)
• Memorial to UN staff killed in 2003 Baghdad bombing
• Sergio Vieira de Mello Foundation
Source: United Nations

ADDC is an Australian based, international network focusing attention, expertise and action on disability issues in developing countries; building on a human rights platform for disability advocacy.
To join ADDC, submit information or to find out more, contact:

ADDC Executive Officer

Christine Walton
T 1800 678 069
cwalton@cbm.org.au
www.addc.org.au

Bulletin Updates August 16th 2010

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:57:06 +0000

ADDC BULLETIN: August 16th 2010

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.
ADDC does not necessarily endorse all opinions that are within the contents of our information and we make every attempt to validate information prior to distribution. If you notice any anomalies or have information on updated versions of our information, please forward to ADDC Secretariat.
This bulletin provides updates on the following:
• ADDC Congratulates Uncle Lester NAIDOC Elder of the Year 2010
• BPKS training on UNCRPD
• Disability Rights International Unveils New Name and Website
• Conferences and Events
• Employment & Funding Opportunities
• Resources

Updates

ADDC Congratulates Uncle Lester NAIDOC Elder of the Year 2010
Uncle Lester Bostock won the elder of the year award at this year’s NAIDOC Awards, held at the Melbourne Convention Centre on July 9th, 2010.
Uncle Lester is a Life Member and previous Board Member of PWD, a founding member of the Aboriginal Disability Network, and the current Chair of First Peoples Disability Network Australia.

A Bundjalung man from Box River Reserve in New South Wales, Uncle Lester was unable to read or write when he left school at just 13. Undeterred, he returned to education as an adult and became a teacher. Uncle Lester is regarded as a pioneer of Indigenous media in Australia. He helped to set up Radio Redfern, was involved in creating the first Indigenous theatre group, and was the first Aboriginal presenter on SBS Radio.
Experiencing an accident in the 1950s that led to his leg being amputated, Uncle Lester has worked to raise awareness of the unmet needs of Aboriginal people with disability. He has played important roles in many Indigenous disability and community organisations and was part of the 1967 referendum campaign and the Aboriginal Tent Embassy.
The NAIDOC Award is recognition of a lifetime of achievement and is a credit to him and the extraordinary contribution he has made to Aboriginal services in Australia.
Source: PWD Australia

BPKS training on UNCRPD
BPKS organized a three day long training programme on Understanding UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on 6 to 8 August, 2010.
The Training was participated by 50 national level leaders with disabilities who are the Executive Director or President of District level Disable Peoples Organization.
Mr. Ishaque Mia facilitate the training for the all three days and explained all the process, actions which are declared and the Optional protocol to implement the Un Convention.
Source: Ishaque Mia-BPKS

Disability Rights International Unveils New Name and Website

Email information from Laurie Ahern, President- Disability Rights International

Dear Supporter,
We are proud to announce our organization’s new name, Disability Rights International. Our mission has not changed. Formerly Mental Disability Rights International, we remain committed to protecting the human rights and promoting the integration into society of people with disabilities. Our new name reflects the reality that people with any kind of disability-whether mental or physical-are often shut away from society, locked in institutions, and denied basic human dignity and rights.
Over the past 16 years, Disability Rights International has protected the rights of the world’s most vulnerable population. We have pressured governments into protecting human rights, freed children from cages, and we have closed abusive psychiatric hospitals. In their place, we have helped create community alternatives and self-advocacy movements so that people can regain control of their lives and live with dignity. We are proud to say that we have reunited institutionalized children with their loving families-and we have fostered communities where it is no longer necessary for a family to place a child in an institution in the first place.
For every child we have saved, unfortunately, there are hundreds that we haven’t reached in time. In recognition of the worldwide need of disability advocacy for children, Disability Rights International is launching the Worldwide Campaign to End the Institutionalization of Children. It is our goal to ensure that the next generation of children are never locked behind the doors of an institution they will likely never leave, and to sustain the advocacy to get the children who are already in abusive institutions, out.
We would like to invite you to visit our new website at www.disabilityrightsintl.org to learn more about the campaign. This work is possible because of you- and your support remains crucial. Please consider making a contribution to help support the Worldwide Campaign to End the Institutionalization of Children.

Conferences & Events

• Refer to ADDC calendar of events on ADDC website for further events.

ADDC Conference

Implementing disability-inclusive development in the Pacific and Asia:
Reviewing progress, planning the future

An international conference and action planning roundtable
15-17 September 2010
Darwin Convention Centre, Australia

CONFERENCE REGISTRATION DATE EXTENDED TO
AUGUST 25TH

ADDC have been informed that some potential conference delegates have experienced some difficulties in getting their registration in on time. We are able to extend registration deadline to AUGUST 25th. There will be no further extensions, so please register your attendance now.

6th Annual Nossal Institute for Global Health Forum 2010
The Millennium Development Goals 2000 – 2015 — Can NGOs and academia help get us there?
Thursday 2nd September 2010 in Melbourne
Many approaches and programs are working and contributing to progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, but overall we are falling short of achieving them by 2015. This forum examines some of the biggest gaps in global health’s fundamental structure and function and suggests ways that they could be filled–helping to get closer to the MDGs as well as contributing to other pressing global health issues.
This one day forum immediately follows the 63rd United Nations Annual Department of Public Information (DPI) / Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Conference being held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre entitled “Advance Global Health: Achieve the MDGs”. The Forum also comes just three weeks before the UN General Assembly Summit on the Millennium Development Goals.
When: Thursday 2nd September 2010
Time: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Where: Bio 21 Institute, 30 Flemington Road, Parkville
Registration is free but you must register your interest to attend with Heather Saunders (hsaun@unimelb.edu.au) before 27 August
Topics:
• The Future for Global Health
• ‘International development organisations and academia working together for the MDGs’.
• Evidence in action…. or Evidence inaction: Creative partnerships between academia and community health NGOs.
• The Next Generation: Putting the D back into the MDGs
• The next set of Millennium Development Goals

Speakers will include:
Thelma Narayan, Peoples Health Movement,Bangalore, India; Benedict David, AusAID; Ruth Bamela Engo-Tjega, Founder and President of African Action on AIDS; Kirsty Thompson, CBM Australia;
Jane Chege, World Vision International; Marc Purcell, Australian Council for International Development; Shobha Arole, Comprehensive Primary Health Care Project, Jamhked, India; Aleida Guevara, William Soler Children’s Hospital Havana, Cuba; Sally Baker, CBM-Nossal Institute Partnership for Disability Inclusive Development; Robert Kumar, The Uttarakhand Cluster, India.
For a full Forum Program, please go to website: http://www.ni.unimelb.edu.au/about_us/news_and_events/events
Source: Nossal Institute for Global Health

3rd HIV and AIDS in the Workplace Research Conference

The 3rd HIV and AIDS in the Workplace Research Conference, taking place in Johannesburg from 9-11 November, is set to be a hallmark event. The Conference will reflect on the intersection of workplace HIV responses, academic research and surveillance, with a particular focus on strengthening prevention interventions in the fight against HIV and AIDS in Africaand linking prevention research to workplace practice.
With prevention being a key priority focus area of the NSP, success in preventing new infections is widely accepted as the key to ultimately curbing the impact of HIV and AIDS on South Africa and its people.
This private sector conference offers an opportunity for business to step back and reflect on HIV/AIDS programmes, using the lens of research and practice to consider what has worked and what lessons can be extracted. Importantly, this is also a platform to translate research into meaningful and sustainable responses that can be applied in the workplace going forward.
We look forward to an innovative and engaging conference and encourage you to register as soon as possible on the conference website (www.sabcoha.org/conference) or contact the conference secretariat on: Tel: +27 12 816 9074 Fax: +27 12 807 7191 / 7153
E-mail: TshepoG@foundation.co.za

Source: GPDD

2010 Global Domestic Violence Conference
The Global Domestic Violence Conference 2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is scheduled on November 1-3, 2010. This conference is set to be the largest gathering of community groups, government and non-government agencies(NGO’s) all devoted to highlighting and showcasing successful programs with the aim of empowering people and workers in the field of domestic violence.
For further information: http://domesticviolenceconference.net/

UN Women Website
In an historic move, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously on 2 July 2010 to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.
The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — to be known as UN Women — is a result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. It is part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact.
“I am grateful to Member States for having taken this major step forward for the world’s women and girls,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement welcoming the decision. “UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe.” – Click here to read Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s full statement
Click here to learn more about the UN Women Website www.unwomen.org
Source: PWD Australia
Employment & Funding Opportunities

ASIA-PACIFIC REGIONAL OFFICER
Full-Time Position
International Human Rights/Disability Project

There is an immediate opening for a full-time position of Asia-Pacific Regional Officer for the Disability Rights Promotion International (D.R.P.I.) project.
D.R.P.I. is a collaborative project working to establish a holistic and sustainable global system to monitor the human rights of people with disabilities. D.R.P.I.’s International Coordination Centre is based at York University in Toronto, Canada. With the support of Disabled Peoples International – Asia-Pacific Region (D.P.I.A.P.), D.R.P.I. is establishing a Regional Centre for Asia-Pacific in Bangkok, Thailand. The Asia-Pacific Regional Officer will work from the Bangkok office.

Source: Henning Holz-DPI-AP Information Support

Resources

FASID, The Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development in Japan, recently published its report of the project ‘Capacity Development in Disability and　Development for CLMV Government Officers ’The project started from July 2007 to June 2010 with the objective of enhancing the capacities of government officers engaged in disability issues to analyze, formulate and implement policies and programs in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV countries).

The report is written in English and the four country languages and a good resources for Disability and Development. I also contributed to the report.

You can find the report with the following URL.

http://www.fasid.or.jp/english/about/index.html
Source: GPDD

ADDC Executive Officer

Christine Walton
T 1800 678 069
cwalton@cbm.org.au
www.addc.org.au

Bulletin Updates June 11th 2010

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 01:20:28 +0000

This bulletin provides updates on the following:

Australia donates $75, 000 to Fiji society for the blind
Women with disabilities: Inspiration, grace and value
Conference: 45th ASSID Australasian Conference
2-day short course: Disability inclusion within international development program
Employment and funding opportunities
Research and training officer- CBM-Nossal institute partnership for disability- inclusive development
Resources

ADDC Bulletin June 11th 2010

Bulletin Updates May 24th 2010

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 07:57:41 +0000

This bulletin provides updates on the following:

Appointment of General Director of AusAID
Senate Report: ‘Hear Us’- Now we need action
News from our friends in the pacific
2- day short course: Disability inclusion within international development programs
3rd International congress on tourism for all
5th IDP Africa forum
Australia- AusAID call for funding proposals for human rights
U.S embasy call for proposals for FY 2010 small grants group
UNDP small grant for support for local initatives
UNDP small-grant-civic education for persons with disabilities
UNDP smallgrant-civic education for Indigenous peoples pilot program
The secretary’s innovation award
Freedom to create grants
United Nations development programme Mongolia- SeekingDisability Policy Expert
HIV/AIDS Asia regional program (HAARP)- Monitoring and Strategic Information Advisor (based in Bangkok)
Burnet Institute- Program Manager- Myanmar (Burma) Program, Centre for International Health
Communication and advocacy position in East Timor
USICD Atlas Corps fellowship opportunity
Communication empowerment in MNH
Mainstreaming disability equality: An ITC- ILO on-line course
DPI-AP newsletter

ADDC Bulletin May 24th 2010

Bulletin Updates May 14th 2010

admin — Sat, 22 May 2010 04:09:33 +0000

This bulletin provides updates on the following:

No women should have to pay with her life to be a mother, Ban says
Midwives needed now more than ever, UN agency says as it marks day
Unitd Nations DPINGO Conference- Your involvement
Study on children with disabilities
International Cooperation and its importance in the development of people with disabilities into the labour market
Melbourne disaster risk management workshop
Dsability in developing countries
Primary health care in Jamkhed (India)
AusAID regional specialists (Disability inclusive development) overseas based staff positions
Applications open for community based rehabilitation courses for the academic year 2010-11
New world bank access to information policy
Equity and inclusion in education guide
Disability new India
National Disability Summit 2010

ADDC Bulletin May 14th 2010

ADDC 14th Edition Newsletter

admin — Sun, 16 May 2010 00:52:50 +0000

Welcome to the 14th Edition of the Australian Disability and Development Consortium’s (ADDC) Newsletter. This issue provides updates on the following:

1. Haiti’s death of rehabs and therapists set off alarm bells

2. The Australian Government’s humans rights grants scheme for 2010-11

3. UN and sports federations team up to score for development

4. News from the Pacific

5. Making it Work

6. Experts’ meeting on indicators for an inclusive monitoring of poverty reduction and development programs in Mozambique, Maputo, Mozambique, March 4 2010.

Newsletter 14th Edition-May 2010

ADDC 14th Edition Newsletter

Bulletin Updates May 7th 2010

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 03:38:53 +0000

This bulletin provides information on the following:

UN DPINGO Conference: Call for workshop proposal
UN DPI Conference: Call for events and exhibitions
Diplomacy Training Program: Human Rights Training
XVIII International AIDS Conference
Alone in a Crowded Room
Conferences and Events

ADDC Bulletin May 7th 2010