Welcome at the new PHOS website!

From now on you can expect news in three languages, Dutch, French and English!

General information about the topic disability and development cooperation can be found here.

For more information do not  hesitate to contact us at secretariaat at phos.be!

Launch EC project "Making Development Inclusive"

Alf Svensson MEP, in conjunction with Leonard Cheshire Disability and IDDC, cordially invites you to a Panel Discussion and Launch of the EC funded project ‘Making Development Inclusive’.

22 June 2010
12:30-14:30
Room A7– F387
Altiero Spinelli entrance
European Parliament
Rue Wiertz 43, Brussels

RSVP to Hannah Nicholls: info@iddcconsortium.net

The UN MDG Review Summit is being held in New York in September 2010. As the world’s largest contributor of development aid, the EU will be a major contributor to discussions on future strategies for achieving the MDGs. This panel discussion will allow stakeholders from both the EU and the global South to discuss the role that disability plays in poverty, and ensure that in the lead up to the Summit, there will be an emphasis on making the MDGs
inclusive. Moderated by EuropeAid (TBC), speakers will include Alf Svensson MEP, Madhizhagan Mohan (Inclusive Development Officer at CBM South Asia), and Imtiaz Mohammed (Head of International Programmes, Leonard Cheshire Disability), among others.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) have the potential to make life better for billions of people, but without including persons with disabilities in plans for tackling poverty, the MDGs stand little chance of success.

This event is being organised by IDDC, in collaboration with its member organisation Leonard Cheshire Disability (UK) and is part of the project ‘Making Development Inclusive’, supported by the European Union. The content of this event is the sole responsibility of IDDC and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

UN: Include Disabilities in Development Agenda Address Disability in Plans for Women’s Equality, Empowerment

New York, June 28, 2010 – This week’s high-level ministerial meeting about gender equality in international development assistance should promote the rights and needs of women with disabilities, Human Rights Watch said today. Specifically, governments should address the marginalization of women with disabilities in the declaration to be adopted on July 1, 2010.

“Women and girls with disabilities have largely been invisible within the international development agenda,” said Shantha Rau Barriga, researcher and advocate on disability rights at Human Rights Watch. “Efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals – including those on poverty, education, HIV, and gender equality – will fall short unless governments and UN agencies include women and girls with disabilities in their programs, planning, and decision-making.”

Women with disabilities make up at least 5 percent of the world's population. They face multiple discrimination because of their disability, gender, and in many cases, poverty. World leaders have adopted eight Millennium Development Goals, which include specific targets from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, by 2015.

Women and girls with disabilities – whether physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory – are often hidden in their homes, denied the right to go to school or get a job. They often do not have access to adequate reproductive health care or information on health issues such as HIV/AIDS. Many women and girls with disabilities experience forced sterilization, forced psychiatry, domestic violence, and sexual assault. They also face stigma and discrimination that block their participation in the community and negatively impact their self-esteem.

“In every country of the world, women with disabilities face barriers to inclusion and equality,” Barriga said. “Addressing these barriers is essential to achieving global development goals, fulfilling human rights obligations, and ensuring that women with disabilities are recognized as equal human beings.”

This week’s meeting of the United Nations Economic and Social Council brings together health and development ministers from around the world to assess progress on the UN development agenda. This year’s meeting focuses on gender equality and empowerment of women.

The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, now binding law in more than half of the world, includes a provision (article 32) on international cooperation. This provision requires governments to ensure that international development programs are inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities. The convention also includes a dedicated article on women with disabilities, recognizing their marginalization in society and the challenges they face.

Invitation to the Press Conference: Celebrating entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Invitation to the Press Conference

Celebrating entry into force of the Convention on Cluster Munitions

Ban Advocates, Sladjan and Dusica Vučković,
will personally introduce the film “Ban Advocates: from Victims to Champions”

Friday 30 July 2010, 11 am
Residence Palace (International Press Centre)
Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 155, Brussels

On 1 August 2010 the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) will enter into force. Entry info force is a major milestone as it is the day that the international ban takes effect and its obligations become fully and legally binding on all States Parties. The clock will start ticking for them to meet their obligations and this will be celebrated around the world. In Brussels Handicap International Belgium invites you to a press conference with two survivors of cluster munitions from Serbia, Sladjan and Dusica Vučković, who lobbied for the treaty as part of the “Ban Advocates” team. They will introduce the film “Ban Advocates: from Victims to Champions,” directed by Chris Anderson. The film shows the crucial role played by the “Ban Advocates” in advocating for a ban on cluster munitions, joint with key states and civil society, played in the process towards a ban on cluster munitions. Together with staff members of Handicap International they will answer your questions.

The following questions may arise:

• What is the impact of the Entry into Force of the CCM on 1 August 2010?
• What will change for affected people & communities?
• Which states must join?
• What role should Europe play?
• How to empower survivors to play a role in processes of change?
• What can we expect from the First Meeting of States Parties in Laos in November?

Programme:
1. Introduction to the entry into force
2. The role of the “Ban Advocates” in the Oslo process
3. Sladjan and Dusica Vučković: experiences and expectations
4. The short version of the film (5’) will be shown
5. The way forward and Questions & Answers

The Press Conference will be in English, questions will be answered in French and Dutch as well.

The film, long (25’) and short (5’) versions, will be available on the web after the press conference.

 

To confirm your presence, for interviews or information, please contact:
Hildegarde Vansintjan, Tel: + 32 2 233 01 06; Mob: + 32 485 111 460; hildegarde.vansintjan@handicap.be

For more information on the “Ban Advocates”, please contact: Stéphanie Castanié,
Tel: +32 2 233 01 08: Mob: +32 479 079 180; stephanie.castanie@handicap.be

 

Websites: www.clusterconvention.org; www.banadvocates.org; www.handicap-international.be; www.stopclustermunitions.org (Cluster Munition Coalition); www.1August.org (entry into force)

European Development Days

This year, the 5th edition of the European Development Days (EDD) will take place in Brussels on 6 and 7 December. Organised by the European Commission and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, EDD is the leading European forum where the questions and issues about international development cooperation are debated.

More information about the EDD days

WHO releases guidelines on community-based rehabilitation for people with disabilities

New document offers practical ways to enhance the quality of life for people with disabilities and their families

27 October 2010, Geneva/Abuja. Launched today in Abuja, Nigeria, the Community-based rehabilitation (CBR) guidelines provide practical suggestions to programme managers on how to develop or strengthen community-based programmes that are inclusive of people with disabilities and their families.

Many people with disabilities have limited or no access to health care and rehabilitation, education, skills training, and employment opportunities. This contributes to a vicious cycle of poverty and disability.

Community-based rehabilitation is a strategy for the equalization of opportunities and social integration of all children and adults with disabilities. It is implemented through the combined efforts of disabled people, their families and communities, and representatives of the appropriate health, education, vocational and social sectors.

"The Community-based rehabilitation guidelines provide an important additional tool to implement the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and strengthen community-based development involving people with disabilities," said Dr Etienne Krug, Director of the WHO Violence and Injury Prevention and Disability Department.

'Sinterklaas' hands over 6542 signatures!

Brussels, 3rd of December 2010 - The third of December is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This means not only attention for persons with disabilities in Belgium, but also in developing countries.

PHOS and '1 in 10' choose this symbolical day to hand over the petition. More than 6000 people asked politicians to commit to disability and development cooperation.

PHOS and '1 in 10' have been collecting signatures for almost over a year. On friday the third of December, Sint Nicolaas (traditional winter figure who can be compared to Santa Claus) handed over 6542 signatures. Pascal Smet, Minister of Equal Chances, was the first to receive the petition. The Cabinet of Minister of Development Cooperation Charles Michel and State Secretary Jean-Marc Delizée followed. The day ended with a visit to Flemish Minister President Kris Peeters.

Impressions of the day made by photographer Gertrui Steyaert follow.

The new project of PHOS

Within a new project, PHOS is working on a new research at the moment to the situation of persons with a disability in a couple of selected Belgian partner countries. Our partners of the collective ‘Eén op tien’ support us with this. Moreover, we work together as well with our sister organisations in The Netherlands (Dutch Coalition on Disability and Development) and Germany (Bezev). We will also take a look at the Belgian actions concerning disabilities and development cooperation. Belgium needs to present its first report for August to the Committee of Human Rights in Geneva on the implementation of the UN Agreement on the rights of persons with a disability. PHOS wants amongst other things to look at the way that Belgium takes into account article 32 of this agreement, which states that the international cooperation needs to be inclusive and accessible for persons with a disability. For September, we will have the first results on paper about this.

The results will be used by PHOS to formulate a couple of concrete recommendations. In that way, we want to incite policy makers to implement an inclusive policy and to put up inclusive actions within the Belgian and the Flemish development cooperation. Besides that, we do not want only to present the research with politicians but also with other NGOs and other movements from and for persons with a disability. So, you will be hearing from us!

Help Light for the World with 5 minutes of your time!

The END EXCLUSION-Let’s Enable the MDGs project, an initiative led by Light for the World-Austria aims to increase public support for inclusive MDGs. It sets out to bring young people in particular to stand up for the inclusion of persons with disabilities in European development programmes.

In order to develop a better understanding of their main target group, Young Europeans between 14 and 25 years old, and to make the project as exciting and engaging as possible for them, Light for the World has put together a short survey (5min). The survey is certified accessible and can be find on the following webpage: END EXCLUSION – Let's Enable the MDG.

Thanks in advance!

Round table on the newly declared African Decade of Persons with Disabilities 2010- 2019

The Secretariat of the African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (SADPD), together with collaborative partners, will host a disability Roundtable on the development of the new AU Continental Disability Strategy (CDS) for the newly declared African Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2010-2019). This Roundtable will provide an opportunity to provide inputs into the process of formulating a new CDS, which will be submitted to the relevant ministerial sessions and adopted by the African Heads of States Summit.

This roundtable will take place in Johannesburg, South Africa, from the 31st August until the 2nd September 2011.

The announcement of the roundtable and more information can be find here: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/DISABILITY/Resources/280658-1298502475589/Disability_Roundtable_Announcement[1].doc (English version)

 

Interactive inclusive development database

For the last year and a half Leonard Cheshire Disability has been working on a joint project with the World Bank to developing a questionnaire and framework to be an information resource for policy makers and practitioners interested in learning more about making development inclusive and implementing the CRPD. This is now a website where you can go to find out where projects or inclusive action is taking place, along with the names and contact details of the relevant governmental people involved. The objective is that policy makers and practitioners can find examples of good practice among neighboring countries and learn much from each other.

The website is at www.disabilitydatabase.org.

Report on the status of the Convention on the Rights of the Child focuses on the rights of children with disabilities

The recently published Secretary General’s report on the status of the convention on the Rights of the child, devotes much attention to the situation of children with disabilities. As at 1 July 2011, the Convention had been ratified or acceded to by 193 States. The convention gives lot of attention to the rights of children with disabilities.

Section IV of the report highlights issues focussing on disabilities, related to discrimination, data collection, the Millennium Development Goals and disability, the right of children with disabilities to be heard, progress in realizing the rights of children with disabilities and the current global situation. Furthermore, perspectives on ways forward are suggested.

For more information, read the report of the Secretary-General.

PHOS invites you!

Platform Disability and Development Cooperation (PHOS), 1 in 10* and Sabine de Bethune, Chairwomen of the Belgian Senate, would like to invite you for a forum on:

Promoting inclusive development
Persons with disabilities in Belgian development cooperation

Date: December 6th, 2011; 12.00 pm – 2.00 pm
Venue: House of Parlementarians, Room 10, Leuvenseweg 21, 1000 Brussels

The World Report on Disability, published in 2011 by the World Bank and the World Health Organisation, notes that more than 15 % of the world population lives with a disability. The majority of these people live in developing countries and they belong to the most vulnerable in society. 82% of persons with disabilities (PwD) live under the poverty line. The Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities states that countries should acknowledge PwD in international cooperation and should ensure that they are considered in development policies and programmes. Belgium has signed and ratified this convention. Nevertheless, PwD remain often overlooked in development cooperation. This has to change if we want to reach the Millenium Development Goals by 2015.

This forum focuses on the need for inclusive development cooperation, accessible for PwD and on the present initiatives of Belgium in this area.

Program and guest speakers 6/12/2011 (pdf, 151 KB)

Interested?
Please subscribe via e-mail (secretariaat@phos.be) or confirm your presence by phone (02/4212430). Reservations are required and accepted till December 2nd, 2011.

New UN publication: Disability and the Millennium Development Goals: A Review of the MDG Process and Strategies for Inclusion of Disability Issues in Millennium Development Goal Efforts.

The United Nations have released a new publication on disability and the MDG's: 'Disability and the Millennium Development Goals. A Review of the MDG Process and Strategies for Inclusion of Disability Issues in Millennium Development Goal Efforts'. This publication is intended to provide a “road map” for how and why disability can and should be included in the planning, monitoring and evaluation of MDG-related programmes and policies.

The publication is intended for two audiences:

1. Those working in disability advocacy, programming and outreach efforts who seek to better understand the MDGs in order to ensure that disability issues are effectively integrated into current and future MDG efforts.

2. Those working on MDG-related efforts who need to understand the links between disability and poverty in order to work with the disability community to ensure that disability issues are better integrated into all current and future MDG work.

The reason for the preparation of this review is that although it has been argued by some that the commitment of the United Nations to the rights of persons with disability and their inclusion in all MDG activities are implied in the MDGs, this implicit inclusion seems rarely to lead to their inclusion in either general or targeted MDG efforts.

Download the new publication through this link: www.un.org/disabilities/documents/review_of_disability_and_the_mdgs.pdf . More information can be find on the UN enable website.