APDF November 2023 Statement for the

Ad-hoc Session of Working Group on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2023-2032; 8-9 November 2023

Comments and Suggestions Overview:

The feedback of the APDF on the six priority areas for accelerated action in the Operational Guide for the Implementation of the Jakarta Declaration centers on a few key themes:

1. Stronger language and emphasis on the “implementation” and “accountability” measures along with the guidance details on goals presented, as well as broadening the scope of roles and responsibilities of multi-stakeholders’ partnerships and ensuring the direct participations of persons with disabilities and their advocacy organizations.
2. Greater reference to the increasing power and (need for) prevalence of disability-inclusive digital technologies as a mechanism for driving several priority areas into the future, especially since the original status of IT when the Incheon Strategy was established.
3. The lack of significant consideration for disaster risk reduction guidance in a post-pandemic world facing increasing and intensifying environmental disasters and armed conflicts which disproportionately affect persons with disabilities.

While the Jakarta Declaration should maintain the momentum of the goals and successes of the Incheon Strategy and Beijing Declaration, it also needs to refocus and distinguish the current and future state of the world and the valuable contributions of persons with disabilities.

Priority Areas:

5.2.1 Priority Area 1: Harmonize national legislations with the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, once the Convention has been ratified or acceded to

Add to Section II. Institutional mechanisms:

“Member states of ESCAP are encouraged to share and promote relevant and significant court cases from their national independent disability commissions and rights grievance redress tribunals to ESCAP so they can promote these cases (online) for general viewing of all member states.”

5.2.2 Priority Area 2: Promote the meaningful participation of women and men with disabilities of all ages

Add to Section I. Legislative action and policy reform:

“ESCAP should encourage member states to involve mainstream and government supported educational institutions, youth and women’s organizations to create targeted, easy-to-read or digitally accessible information to promote political participation, especially to accommodate persons with learning disabilities, including those under guardianship.”

Add to Section II. Institutional mechanisms:

“Member states should include persons with disabilities and their advocacy groups in the development and revision of disaster risk reduction planning given the projected increasing frequency and intensity of natural disasters, pandemics, armed conflicts and effects of climate change.”

Add to Section III. Capacity development:

“Member states should ensure the disaster risk reduction agencies and first responder are trained on up to date with disability-inclusive disaster management guidance.”

5.2.3 Priority Area 3: Improve accessibility with special attention to the distinct needs of persons with diverse disabilities and of women, children and older persons with disabilities

Add to Section I. Legislative action and policy reform:

“More attention should specifically be given to developing disability-inclusive digital environments to promote greater accessibility as we move forward into the 4^th Decade of Persons with Disabilities.”

Add to Section II. Institutional mechanism A:

(…inter-ministerial accessibility board) “in accordance with all aspects of the life of persons with disability,” (whose features and purpose…)

5.2.4 Priority Area 4: Galvanize the power of the private sector, including its resources, technological innovations and talents, to advance disability-inclusive development

Add to Section II. Institutional mechanism A:

“ESCAP, through its member states, should promote the priorities of Jakarta Declaration and the associated Operation Guidelines to regional business and development platforms and forums. Connecting with the Belt and Road Forum, Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRAF), Arab International Investors Forum (AIIF) and Asian Development Bank should be actively pursued. Connecting with regional financial investment research firms should also be actively encouraged.”

“ESCAP through its member states to ask businesses with multi-national branches to provide good practices in ESG relevant to the Jakarta Declaration. ESCAP to host these good practices online for general viewing. ESCAP at its mid-Decade Review should consider a ceremony to recognize companies with outstanding good practices, and the ceremony be sponsored by regional media companies.”

Add to Section II. Institutional mechanism B:

“Identify IT experts with disability or who have worked on disability-inclusive IT projects to provide guidance and develop the optimal requirements for accessible technologies or universal design work environments for all different types of disabilities.”

5.2.6 Priority Area 6: Close disability data gaps and strengthen capacities to track progress in disability-inclusive development at the national and subnational levels:

Add to Section I. Legislative action and policy reform A6:

“Member States are also encouraged to utilize the UN Human Rights Office’s SDGs CRPD resource package to better align and leverage the overlapping goals and indicators of the CRPD and SDGs for implementing the Jakarta Declaration.”

Add to Section III. Capacity development:

“Along with appropriate training and dissemination of disability data and statistics, ESCAP should lead an effort to examine the data collection and analysis methodologies of existing public and private sector clinical research organizations, specifically the use of global coding dictionaries (e.g. MEDRA) and standardize data reporting specification (e.g. SDTM), to develop disability-driven and verified systems for comparing disability data across member states and globally.”

Contacts:

Joseph Kwok, Chairman of APDF, kwok.joseph.368@gmail.com

Reena Lee, Deputy Secretary General, reenalee@naver.com

John Lee, Secretariat of APDF, xianlee23@gmail.com