International Conference, November 2014, New Delhi, India From Exclusion to Empowerment The Role of ICTs for Persons with Disabilities Organizers: UNESCO, in cooperation with Brotherhood, We Care Film Festival & the Global Rainbow Foundation (India), with the support of the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment & Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India

Persons with disabilities make up the largest minority in the world, with more than 1 billion people living with some form of disability. Eighty per cent are of working age and the vast majority live in developing countries. New development agenda must be disability-inclusive, the rights of persons with disabilities must be directly addressed by the post-2015 development agenda – says a UN high-level meeting in September 2013 A need for “urgent action” by all relevant stakeholders towards adoption and implementation of more ambitious disability-inclusive national development strategies with disability- targeted actions backed by increased international cooperation and support Why a UN Conference on disability ? Why now ? Why a UN Conference on disability ? Why now ? ”We must strengthen the international normative framework on disability and development,” Mr. Ban said. ”We must act now to remove barriers to access to physical environments, transportation and information and communications. And we must not only lift the physical barriers – but also the barriers in attitudes that fuel stigma and discrimination.”

High Level Responses High-level meeting of the General Assembly on disability and development, 23 September resulted in action-oriented Outcome Document in support of the aims of the CRPD and the realization of the MDGs Report of UN Special Rapporteur on Disability (February 2014): Adoption by Heads of State in Sep 2013 of an outcome document ‘The way forward: A disability-inclusive development agenda towards 2015 and beyond’ Key points of document: o More ambitious disability-inclusive national development plans: disability is not just a HR issue but a development issue o Increased international cooperation & support o Full implementation of international normative framework on disability & development, particularly the UNCRPD & its Optional Protocol Inter-Agency Support Group for Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities (2006): Tasked with promoting of compliance with the Principles of UNCRPD & increasing the scale & effectiveness of the UN’s involvement in disability issues

Human Need sand Rights Knowledge Societies Cultural & Linguistic Diversity Education for All Access to Information & Knowledge Freedom of Expression CreationDisseminationAccessPreservation Pluralism Inclusion Diversity Openness Participation Information Knowledge Human NeedsHuman Rights Wisdom UNESCO’s Approach: Building Knowledge Societies

The International Conference: A Development Approach The Conference will take a development approach towards building on the UN Convention the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) & its unique mandate for education, communication & information within the UN system Clear thematic linkages will be established between specific articles of the UNCRPD that deal with ‘Women with Disabilities’; ‘Accessibility’; ‘Freedom of Expression & Opinion’; ‘Access to Information’; ‘Education’; ’Work and employment’; ‘International Cooperation’

Build awareness among policymakers, decision-makers; organizations for PWDs, public & private organizations, industry, media & educational institutes, & civil society, about the significance & complexity of disability issues, and the need for concrete measures & action based on the UNCRPD Exposure to the most recent international experiences with regard to different disabilities that may contribute to development of programmes & services for PWDs & practitioners in the field (with a focus on the use of accessible ICTs and assistive technologies) that will enable PWDs to participate fully in society Showcase & promote technical solutions, share good practices, & encourage constructive dialogue among people working in the field of disability Disseminate knowledge regarding state-of-the-art ATs & affordable ICTs, & their role in educating & rehabilitating PWDs Encourage national & international cooperation among various stakeholders Mobilize resources for joint initiatives; encourage various stakeholders to design & provide accessible & affordable content, services & solutions to allow PWDs to overcome barriers (particularly barriers of access to information and knowledge) Propose an action plan on the implementation of UNCRPD (i.e. drafting a Conference Declaration) Key Objectives of the Conference

How the UNCT Could Be Involved Rationale for Involvement The Conference will provide a single-window platform for the UNCT to demonstrate & showcase the UN’s operations & efforts to create an enabling environment that will ensure full inclusion of PWDs in national development processes (Article 32 International Cooperation ) Option 1: A UN Joint Panel on international cooperation may feature : international development programmes, inclusive of and accessible to persons with disabilities; support to capacity-building, including through the exchange and sharing of information, experiences, training programmes and best practices; facilitating cooperation in research and access to scientific and technical knowledge; provision of technical and economic assistance, including by facilitating access to and sharing of accessible and assistive technologies, and through the transfer of technologies. Option 2 : Each UN entity might organize an individual panel to showcase/highlight its advocacy, policy & programmatic work related to disability issues

Option 1: A Joint UN Panel The Joint Panel would bring high visibility to the work of the UN family as a valuable and credible development partner just before the International Day for People with Disability (3 December 2015) The UN Panel should ideally go beyond the traditional realm of achieving economic, social and cultural rights, and include cooperation for achieving civil and political rights; Target development and discussion of A Guidance Note on Disability and Development; The ICT opportunity for persons with disabilities can be highlighted from different perspectives : how each type of access technology contributes to the different dimensions involved in the social and economic inclusion of persons with disabilities; Show case the use of ICTs to fully access healthcare services, benefit at all educational levels, be competitive in the labour market, or participate in public life and live independently; Illustrate how Governments, PWDs and UN entities work together to provide sustained & sustainable support for the full inclusion of PWDs in society

Option 2: Organizing Individual Panels UN entityArticle in UNCRPDPossible focus areas UNICEFA7: Children with disabilities; A24: Education Advocacy for inclusive education with a focus on children with disabilities; ATs to address cross- cutting issues for children; The Global Partnership on Children with Disabilities network(GPcwd) UN WomenA6: Women with disabilities; A8: Awareness raising Mainstreaming disability in the gender equality agenda; Gaps in realizing the rights of women and girls with disabilities (references to women and gender issues are found in the following articles: Article 16 – Freedom from exploitation, violence and abuse ; Article 25 – Health; Article 28 - Adequate standard of living and social protection UNDPA27: Work & employmentLivelihood opportunities for PWDs; Status / experiences / innovations of various relevant Govt & non-Govt initiatives; Promoting livelihoods for persons with disabilities

ILO A27: Work & employment Training & employment of PWDs; Moving from separate to inclusive approaches; Showcasing the work of the Global Business & Disability Network UNFPA A9: Accessibility; A25: Health Provision of technical support for incorporating disability perspective into health policies, programmes & national development frameworks; advocating for the participation of PWDs in decision-making processes; Promoting sexual and reproductive health for persons with disabilities (could be a joint panel with WHO) Option 2: Organizing Individual Panels Cont.

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