The Efforts of United Nations On ICTs and Disability Issues

The Efforts of United Nations On ICTs and Disability Issues
- 1948 The UNGA proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The declaration states that each person has "the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control"
- 1966 The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which came into force.
The two Covenants develop and supplement the provisions of the Universal Declaration, and the three instruments together make up the International Bill of Human Rights.
- 1950 - At Geneva Conference, the UN Secretariat, (ILO), (WHO), (UNESCO), (IRO) and (UNICEF), discussed together for the first time “Persons with disabilities and rehabilitation”,
It was agreed on the need to establish international standards for the education, treatment, training and placement of persons with disabilities, with particular attention to be given to blind persons in developing countries.
- 1970 - The ILO, UNESCO, WHO, UNICEF, UNDP and the World Rehabilitation Fund designed a programme to increase funds for technical assistance in the rehabilitation field, and rehabilitation experts were assigned to locations throughout the world.
-1971 - On 20 December the General Assembly proclaimed the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons.
-1955 - 1970 - The focus of the United Nations on disability issues shifted in the late 1950s from a welfare perspective to one of social welfare
-1975 - In December the General Assembly adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, which states that all persons with disabilities are entitled to the rights stipulated, without respect to race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, state of wealth, birth or any other situation.
- 1976 - The General Assembly proclaimed 1981 as the International Year for Disabled Persons .
- 1981- International Year for Disabled Persons .
• International Symposium on Disabled Persons, in Tripoli, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
• World Symposium of Experts on Technical Cooperation Among Developing Countries and Technical Assistance in Disability Prevention and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons, 12 - 23 October in Vienna, Austria.
• World Conference on Actions and Strategies on Education, Disability Prevention, and Integration of Disabled Persons, Spain (held in cooperation with UNESCO).
-1982 - The General Assembly adopted the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons. Disability policy was structured in three main areas: prevention, rehabilitation, and equalization of opportunities.
It also proclaims 1983-1992 the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons.
-1984 - Mr. Leandro Despouy from Argentina was appointed Special Rapporteur by the Sub-Commission on Human Rights, tasked with studying the causal connection between human rights violations, violations of fundamental freedoms, and disability.
-1992 - The end of the Decade of Disabled Persons was marked by the General Assembly with the establishment of the International Day of Disabled Persons on 3 December.
-1993 - The Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities were adopted by the General Assembly
-2001 - In December, Mexico proposes in the General Assembly to establish an Ad Hoc Committee to consider proposals for a comprehensive and integral international convention to protect and promote the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities.
- 2006 - On 13 December the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is adopted by the General Assembly.
- 2007 - On 30 March the Convention and Optional Protocol opened for signature.
Highlights on the Efforts of the United Nations on Disability & ICT:
1- Geneva Plan of Action, Action Line C2 Paragraph 9(e) on ICT infrastructure, requires national e-strategies to address the special requirements of persons with disabilities, using appropriate educational, administrative and legislative measures to ensure their full inclusion.
2- The second WSIS phase produced the Tunis Agenda for the Information Society for implementation and follow-up “special attention would be paid to the formulation of universal design concepts and the use of assistive technologies that promote access for all persons, including persons with disabilities”
3- In 2006 World Telecommunication Development Conference (WTDC-06) was held in Doha, Qatar. During that conference, a new special global initiative was created on “Access to Telecommunication Services for People with Disabilities.”.