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HI SEE initiated a disability statistics mission in the
region
Belgrade, October, 2006 - Thierry
Gontier, Handicap International SEE Consultant on Statistics
and Disability, paid a visit to the region, specifically,
Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania for the purpose
of making preliminary assessment of the situation disability
statistics. HI SEE is interested in raising awareness on
the importance of disability statistics and giving an impulse
for their production by relevant authorities.
- Invisibility is among the key disability issues. There
is a vicious circle between the lack of statistical data
on disability and marginalization of persons with disabilities.
The lack of comprehensive statistical information on disability
contributes to its exclusion from the political agenda and
makes it very challenging to build effective reforms around
this issue. Thus people with disabilities end up forgotten
and marginalized. This vicious circle can easily be converted
into virtuous one by finding the weakest link in the data
collection and modifying it – said Mr Gontier.
The preliminary assessment shows that existing disability
statistics are often conflicting or contradictory, depending
on the different sources, making it difficult to get an
accurate picture of the situation. Also, they are generally
framed in the medical model so that they are disaggregated
by type of impairment. The information is mainly based on
medical indicators such as the number of people in institutions
or the number of people with disabilities with paraplegia
for example. Information such as the number of people with
disabilities attending mainstream schools or the percentage
of those employed in the open labour market is almost impossible
to find. The biggest gap though is that the existing statistics
do not offer any information on the living conditions of
persons with disabilities nor on the indirect discrimination
they face every day. This kind of data is crucial for building
more effective policies, as the disability advocates in
the region have repeatedly highlighted.
As to international legal framework recognizing the state’s
responsibility to collect disability data, it exists. Both
the UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities
for Persons with Disabilities, Rule No.13 on Information
and Research and the UN Convention on the Rights of People
with Disabilities, Article 31, refer to the responsibility
of the state to produce statistical data on disability.
The following key stakeholders were part of the research:
• Relevant line ministries (representatives of the
ministries of health, social welfare, labor and education),
• Central statistics offices,
• DPO's,
• International organizations (WB, DFID, Statistics
Sweden).
The intention of this assessment is to allow the involved
stakeholders to have a clear picture of what data exists
and where the gaps are. Equally important is to get a picture
of the institutional framework for collecting disability
data and the predominant methodology of statistical institutions
in the region while sensitizing key regional actors on the
various and ongoing international debates around this issue.
A draft report will be issued on the findings of the assessment
to be shared with all stakeholders. This will be followed
by a series of national workshops, gathering all of the
stakeholders in order to define priorities, discuss the
issue of developing disability statistical indicators.
The final report will be published
within the Disability Monitor Initiative.
Agreement Reached on New
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
UNITED NATIONS, 25 August - After
five years of negotiations, countries have agreed on a new
convention to protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
" This is the first convention of this magnitude for
this century," UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson
said after the agreement was reached. He told the negotiators
that they were "sending an absolutely wonderful message
to the world. You are sending the message that we want to
have a life with dignity for all and that all human beings
are all equal".
"This marks a great day for the UN and for persons
with disabilities," said New Zealand’s Ambassador Don
MacKay, who chaired the negotiations through its final sessions.
"It’s a good convention and it will make a difference
for millions of people."
The successful completion of the treaty, after a day of
intense negotiations and compromises, was met with thunderous
applause by well over a hundred government delegations and
hundreds of representatives of disability organizations
who participated in the process of negotiating the 40-article
treaty.
Proponents of the convention maintained that the treaty
was necessary because persons with disabilities represented
one of the most marginalized groups and that their rights
had been routinely ignored or denied throughout much of
the world.
While the convention does not create new rights, it specifically
prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities
in all areas of life, including civil rights, access to
justice and the right to education, health services and
access to transportation.
The convention was largely approved by consensus, although
there was a vote on a provision concerning "foreign
occupation" that was included in the preamble. With
five countries voting against, the provision was adopted.
The convention will be formally sent to the General Assembly
for adoption at its 61st session that begins in September.
It will then be open for signing and ratification by Member
States.
To see the full text of the Convention, please visit:
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahc8adart.htm
nezvanicni
prevod na srpski / unofficial translation into serbian
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