Hanoi Declaration of Campaign 2001 on the Facilitation of Community Integration of People with Disabilities

Hanoi Declaration of Campaign 2001
on the Facilitation of Community Integration
of People with Disabilities
We, the Participants of Campaign 2001 for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons held at Hanoi, Viet Nam from 10 to 15 December 2001:
• Whereas the Regional NGO Network for the Promotion of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (RNN) and the Organizing Committee of Campaign 2001, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Viet Nam (MOLISA), the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Viet Nam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH) organized the 9th Campaign for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons to promote the Decade Agenda for Action with a view to promotion of equal opportunities for people with disabilities in the region;
• Whereas over 1,400 delegates from 37 countries and territories within and outside the Asian and Pacific region, with over 1,000 being people with disabilities, gathered in Hanoi to exchange views and discuss progress made in the fulfilment of the goals of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons during the past nine years;
• Whereas the delegates met in both plenary and group sessions to discuss numerous issues and formulated recommendations in the areas of national legislation and policies, education and vocational training, employment and small business enterprises, access to the built environments and public transport systems, prevention of causes of disabilities, community-based approaches to rehabilitation services, cultural and athletic _expression, barrier-free tourism, women with disabilities and children, access to information and communication technologies, and international cooperation;
• Whereas in the age of the 21st century most of 350 million people with disabilities in the Asian and Pacific region are still among the least educated, most impoverished and marginalized or excluded groups subject to discrimination;
• Whereas the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly adopted, on 30 November 2001, a resolution on "Comprehensive and integral international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities", which decided to establish an Ad Hoc Committee for the purpose of elaboration of such international convention;
• Whereas the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons will conclude in a year in 2002 and Campaign 2002 will be held in Osaka in October 2002;
• Whereas we unanimously recognize that persons with diverse disabilities as agents of change in making a barrier-free society for all and their contribution to the national development;
1. Therefore urge all peoples and governments in the ESCAP region to support the development and elaboration of the international convention to promote and protect the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities and call upon the governments, in cooperation with ESCAP, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and other relevant organizations to convene a regional meeting or seminar to contribute to the work of the Ad Hoc Committee by making recommendations regarding the content and practical measures that should be considered in the international convention;
2. Further urge governments of the ESCAP region to extend the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (1993 -2002) for another 10 years as a regional mechanism to facilitate the elaboration and implementation of the international convention of rights of persons with disabilities with an approach focusing on;
3. Key strategic areas, including education, training and employment, access to built environments and information and communication technology (ICT), social security and income maintenance;
4. Strengthening subregional cooperation and collaboration;
5. as well as with extension of interregional support for the African Decade of Disabled Persons (2000-2009) and a proposed Arab Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012);
6. Call upon the United Nations, international funding organizations, donor governments and organizations to explicitly include persons with disabilities as a major target group of their support for the national rebuilding of Afghanistan and East Timor;
7. Request governments and non-governmental organizations to support the formation of self-help organizations of persons with diverse disabilities, particularly women with disabilities, with a view to empowering their members and becoming contributing members of 21st century barrier-free society;
8. Resolve to work collectively to advocate with all members of the United Nations system, intergovernmental bodies, governments, non-governmental organizations, private sector bodies, and the mass media, in the Asian and Pacific region to promote the inclusion of disabled persons in the mainstream development process and in the implementation of this Declaration and attached recommendations that have been formulated by group discussion sessions of Campaign 2001.