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Updated through 17 January 2009.
Here, find links to all (or at least most of) the news and press-releases posted at We Can Do since this blog began. Not sure this page is up to date? Click on News under Categories in the right-hand navigation bar for the most recent items. You may also wish to subscribe to We Can Do so you won’t miss future We Can do news items, announcements, and resources. Can’t find the item you want on this page? Consult Navigating We Can Do for tips on how to search this blog site for the precise information you want.
Table of Contents
January 2009; December 2008; November 2008; October 2008; September 2008; August 2008; July 2008; June 2008; May 2008; April 2008; March 2008; February 2008; January 2008; December 2007; November 2007; October 2007; September 2007
- A Forum of women with disabilities met in Pakistan. This open letter from the forum reviews the situation of women with disabilities in Pakistan and invites other organizations to network with them.
- The Bangladesh disability community has received some support following the cyclone Sidr
- The Kosovo disability community has urged US President-Elect Barack Obama to support international disability rights.
- Bangladesh women with disabilities held a national dialogue in late November 2008.
- AusAID has placed people with disabilities as a higher priority within its foreign assistance programs
- The Bangladesh disability community marked the International Day of Persons with Disabilities with a human chain
- The Disability Rights Fund Receives $1.3 Million from the DFID (the UK Department For International Development) to support projects related to implementing and monitoring the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
- Dr. Michael Kemp’s family issues an obituary for him; Dr. Kemp was active with the Deaf communities in Vietnam and Thailand, as well as elsewhere.
- The United Nations Secretary General acknowledges the importance of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and also the International Day of Persons with Disabilities
- The International Day of Persons with Disabilities was celebrated in India (dubbed locally as “World Disability Day”)
- Dr. Michael Kemp was reported to have passed away
- Eduardo Alvarez has been recognized for leadership in Accessibility for People with Disabilities with an award.
- The European Disability Forum has cautioned that people with disabilities must not pay for the international financial crisis. This post is available in both English and French.
- The International Disability Alliance (IDA) Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) Forum is recruiting organizations as participants. The IDA CRPD Forum upholds the CRPD as the universal standard of human rights for all people with disabilities.
- The One Laptop Per Child Project is selling their XO laptops in the US, Canada, and Europe for the next few weeks. Buyers receive one XO for their child, while a second XO is shipped to a child in a developing country.
- The first Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has been elected; the Committee will monitor the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- People with disabilities lack assistance after disaster in Myanmar
- A Deaf Malayasian writer has won a national media award for an article he wrote for Challenges magazine.
- The UNESCO Flagship has been established to promote education access for disabled children
- An International disability activist from Uganda, Ambrose Murangira, has sent a letter thanking the people of the United States for choosing Barack Obama as their next president
- Bangladesh Protibandhi Kallyan Somity (BPKS) Bangladesh congratulates US President-elect Barack Obama, and thanks him for including people with disabilities
- The Disability Rights Fund has made grants to 33 organizations in 7 countries to be used for projects related to the implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- A wheelchair distribution ceremony was held in Pakistan
- The African Decade of Persons with Disabilities has been extended to 2019.
- Tanzanians with albinism, a skin pigmentation condition, are often murdered so their body parts can be sold. People with albinism often have visual impairments.
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- A new global email network of women with disabilities has been launched, called the International Network of Women with Disabilities.
- The Albanian Disability Rights Foundation has been monitoring the National Action Plan of Albania’s National Strategy on People with Disability
- <a href=”http://wecando.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/un-terms-forced-psychiatric-treatment-torture-users-and-survivors-of-psychiatry-welcomes-report/”
The United Nations has defined forced psychiatric treatment as torture; the Center for the Human Rights of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry has welcomed their interim report. - PACER, IBM partner to open model center in India for people with disabilities.
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- Australia commits to leading disability inclusion in development efforts in the Pacific Region
- A report was released from a seminar on disaster risk reduction for deaf people and people with disabilities held in Pakistan in July 2008.
- The September 2008 issue of the Handicap International newsletter can be read here in both English and French
- The Guyana president pledged his support to a local Deaf Awareness Week
- A special issue of the New Internationalist magazine offers stories of people with disabilities in developing countries around the world and their individual battles for human rights, recognition, and dignity.
- A report is available on a Pakistan seminar on the challenges and hopes of deaf and hard of hearing people held in late August 2008.
- Despite some progress, people with disabilities in China still face discrimination, says a major international human rights monitoring organization, Human Rights Watch.
- The Arab Region lacks disability awareness, the outgoing UN special rapporteur on disability has told media; follow the link from the blog post to read the full interview.
- People with disabilities in Russia say they are still invisible in society; read the linked story about the challenges they face–and the progress being made.
- The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is being held December 3, 2008; the theme this year is “The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Dignity and Justice for All of Us.” This is a date and theme around which interested parties may wish to organize your own events or celebrations in your local countries.
- Disability Awareness Action Newsletter, Our Rights, Issue 2, August 2008
- A newsletter from Kyrgyzstan shares local disability-related news on projects, laws, and funding opportunities.
- Dhaka University in Bangladesh is working on creating a disability-friendly environment.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) Disability and Rehabilitation Newsletter is released three times a year; read the July 2008 issue here
- Mental Disability Rights International (MDRI) has demanded that the Paraguayan government address deaths and abuse in its psychiatric hospital.
- Women with disabilities in Pakistan held an empowerment seminar in early August.
- Disabled people of Pakistan to receive wheelchairs, hearing aids, personal attendants
- The Hesperian Foundation has now released the Spanish translation of its book, “Helping Children Who Are Deaf,” which can be downloaded online in PDF format for free.
- The Disability Awareness in Action issued their first monthly newsletter in July; read it here
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- Disability advocate Venus Ilagan was appointed as the new Secretary General of Rehabilitation International in July 2008
- Tourists with disabilities offer opportunities to India, says Dr. Scott Rains; he was to have addressed a workshop for the Indian tourism industry in late July.
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- The Namibian government has been criticized for failing disabled people.
- The Disability Rights Fund has now opened grantmaking to Disabled Peoples’ Organizations in 7 nations: Bangladesh, Ecuador, Ghana, Namibia, Nicaragua, Peru, and Uganda. The deadline for the first round of applications is August 15, 2008.
- A new sign language training program has launched in Guyana.
- The newly-launched Disability Rights Fund launches its new web site.
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- The Global Parntership for Disability and Development held its first membership meeting in Germany.
- The Africa Campaign on Disability and HIV & AIDS released a declaration when they convened in Kampala, Uganda in March 2008.
- The Department of Linguistics at Addis Ababa University conducted a one day consultative workshop on a Draft syllabus of a BA program in Ethiopian Sign Language (ESL) and Deaf Culture; they hope to launch the university program in October 2008.
- Deaf Child Worldwide has launched an action learning resource to help organizations working with deaf children and families throughout the world.
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- an event in Bangkok, Thailand, marked the entry into force of the international disability rights treaty, known as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- The World Blind Union has launched the Right to Read Global Campaign
- Disabled people will now be able to vote in Karnataka, India
- Disability Advocate Gladys Charowa Dies
- The first Malaysian Disability Lifestyles magazine has launched.
- The formerly named Afghan Disabled Union is now named the Development Ability Organization (DAO)
- Participants at a recent international conference released the Bonn Declaration on Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Emergency situations, which lists recommendations on how to ensure that people with disabilities are included in preparation for disaster and in emergency responses.
- The Commonwealth Disabled Peoples Forum is Founded.
- The Bangladesh Disability Forum elects a new national executive council
- Ecuador becomes the 20th nation to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; this means that the CRPD will now enter into force on May 3 (i.e., 30 days later).
- Tunisia becomes the 19th country to ratify the international disability rights treaty, known as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
- International coalition launches groundbreaking Disability Rights Fund, which will give small grants to projects in developing countries targeted at implementing and monitoring the new international disability rights treaty (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).
- Jordan Ratifies the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
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- Disability advocates urge the United Nations Social Development commission to make the development (anti-poverty) agenda disability-inclusive
- The International Deaf Children’s Society has now become Deaf Child Worldwide; it continues to offer a database of project case studies, resources, and exchange of knowledge related to deaf children in developing countries.
- A new initiative in the Philippines promotes ratification of the international disability rights treaty, more officially known as the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
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- Pakistan now has a new school to train people to prepare artificial limbs; people who know more about the school are welcome to comment.
- The small, Southern European country of San Marino ratifies Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Reported first at ratifynow.org.
- Blind Thai Senator will represent disability community
- New Delhi, India, is working toward becoming more accessible to people with disabilities.
- The AIR Foundation has introduced an on-line service to make the web more accessible to people with visual impairments.
- A radio program for blind listeners in India has received an award.
- The World Federation for Mental Health endorses the international disability rights treaty.
- One South African disability advocate says the law oppresses people with psychosocial disabilities.
- Guinea ratifies the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Optional Protocol; Benin and United Arab Emirates sign the treaty, all on February 8, 2008.
- Kosovan people with intellectual disabilities were recently able to vote for the first time.
- The European Union and Africa are cooperating in support of disabled people living in poverty
- The Asian Festival of Inclusive Arts is held in February in Cambodia.
- Peru has ratified both the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and the accompanying Optional Protocol.
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- The United Nations has launched a new, monthly newsletter about disability-related activities in the various United Nations agencies. You can either read it on-line or subscribe via email for free.
- Azerbaijan and the Lao Peoples Democratic Republic have signed the international disability rights treaty but have not yet ratified it.
- Nepal has now signed the international disability rights treaty but has not yet ratified it.
- The World Bank Doing Business Project is collecting stories about successful women entrepreneurs and the barriers they have overcome. Nominations should be submitted by January 22, 2008.
- The Christian Blind Mission has announced that they will now serve people with all disabilities, not only people with vision impairments.
- People who want to help brainstorm ways to make the XO laptop more accessible to children with disabilities in developing countries can now join a free on-line email discussion group.
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- Some funding is available for projects meant to increase democratic participation in society. The deadline for the 2007 funding round has come and gone, but follow the links and review guidelines carefully to prepare early for the next funding round.
- A Disability Awareness Week website was launched in India
- A book on universal design and visitability is available for free on-line
- A United Nations sponsored meeting has made recommendations on ways to empower persons with intellectual disabilities and their families in Asia and the Pacific
- Mugiho Takeshita at the UNDP’s Crisis Prevention and Recovery was seeking information on implementing the CRPD in relation to crisis prevention and recovery for disabilities caused by violence and natural disaster.
- A Report was issued from the World Association of Sign Language Interpreters Conference that was held in Spain in July 2007.
- Mental Disabilities Rights International (MDRI) reports on human rights abuses of disabled children and adults in Serbia.
- The Commonwealth Disabled People’s Conference issued a Memorandum calling for Commonwealth countries to support the CRPD.
- A Brazilian journalist and disability advocate received the International Service Human Rights Award for her defense of the human rights of people with disabilities.
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- A child-friendly version of the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) is now available
- The United Nations has launched a new web site focused on the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
- A new handbook is meant to help parliamentarians understand the international Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD); this handbook may also be a useful tool for advocates, particularly advocates who work closely with parliamentarians and other government officials.
- The Global Fund for Health Research has launched a publicatioin on research capacity for mental health in low- and middle-income countries
- In October, We Can Do reported that Gabon and India ratified, and Cambodia signed, the International CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities).
- The World Health Organization (WHO) has initiated a project improving access to services for people with psycho-social (psychiatric) disabilities.
- An activist, Mussa Chiwaula, has been lobbying the Malawi government for disability rights.
- Read a report on the first known African deaf HIV/AIDS workshop.
- Mental Disabilities Rights International (MDRI) reports severe abuse and human rights violations of people with mental disabilities in Argentina.
- A Report was issued on a disability forum held in Pakistan.
A polio immunization drive was launched in Sudan.
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September 2007
At one point in September, the international disability community prematurely thought we might be On the Verge of Making History by ratifying the disability rights community.
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