Tunisia raitified today and Ecuador will ratify tomorrow Thursday. It means that now we have 20 countries. Thirty days after the 20th nation ratifies the CRPD, the human rights treaty will go into force–meaning that all ratifying nations will be obliged to obey it from that point on. However, 126 countries have signed the CRPD and 71 have signed the Optional Protocol. Signing either treaty is a country’s way of signaling interest in ratifying it at a future date. Becoming a signatory country also obligates a nation to avoid pursuing any new action that could directly violate the treaty.

US presidential candidate Hillary Clinton after today phone conversation with Elena Pečarič slovene presidential candidate 2007 she announce after she will win US presidential election to fully support YHD – Association for the theory and culture of handicap.  

Red cross of Slovenia announced as soon as bancrupt because Slovene Karitas took all their programs. 

In rehabilitation medical centre Pacug of Union of Slovene paraplegics there was unusal accident because their president almost lost his life in their pool, Joško Joras saved him at the last moment. 

On 31 of March 2008 Ministry for Youth and Sport organised Conference to promote the final text of National Strategy for Youth.

Beside youth representatives involved in process of development of this document, Minister for Youth and Sport Mrs. Snezana Samardzic Markovic also spoke on this Conference.

After the official part of the Conference there was cocktail and mini fair of citizens associations and CIL was represented by its youth from Nis and Belgrade branches. 

Meeting with Bozidar Djelic

Representatives of Contact organisations of Civil Society within the program of Government Team for Poverty reduction have meat Vice-President of Serbian government Mr. Bozidar Djelic. This meeting was organized on 27 of March 2008 in Serbian Government building.

This meeting was arranged on two levels: general and individual.

General level referred to NGO sector in global – Law on Associations, COCS mechanism/way of institutionalisation of cooperation between NGO sector and Government, what to suggest as coordination body: agency, office or something else.

Second part was a chance for each Contact Organisation to present its own individual suggestions, initiatives, measures for its target group.

Gordana Rajkov represented Center for Independent Living Serbia .  

Within the project of Serbian Government Team for implementation the Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS) Contact organizations of civil society for monitoring of implementation the Poverty Reduction Strategy, Belgrade hosted Focus group meeting on Social services for PWDs.

CIL, as contact organisation for PWDs in this project, organised a meeting on 26 of March. There were representatives from DPOs, National Employment Bureau and National Institute for Social Protection.

Within the SHARE SEE program, Handicap International organised Grantee Training for CFP8 coalition winners for DLPA. Training was held in Vrnjacka banja on 19 of March and winning coalitions are from Aleksandrovac, Bor, Majdanpek, Smederevo, Uzice, Valjevo, Velika Plana and Vranje.

HI representatives there were Frederick Stockhaus, Zoltan Mihok and Bojana Bego, from CIL Serbia, HI SHARE SEE partner, there was Mimica Zivadinovic, as well as trainers/consultants, Mima Ruzicic-Novkovic and Dusko Savic, who will further on, together with Dimitrije Gligorijevic, work with the Coalitions, on DLPA development and implementation.

In a few weeks, the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has its first birthday, so get ready for hoopla. Break out the champagne and get down to the card shops to buy an anniversary card.T

he first human rights treaty of the twenty first century has been widely celebrated as a victory for the disability rights community, a recognition of the shared humanity of disabled and non-disabled people, and a legally binding document which will make a major difference to the lives of DWPs everywhere. It opened for signatures on 30 March 2007, and at the last count, 125 countries had signed up to its provisions. Everyone agrees that disabled people are amongst the poorest of the poor, and deserve a better deal. A bright shiny law which brings this woeful state of affairs to people’s attention and demands action can only be a good thing, and I willingly applaud those who worked so tirelessly to achieve it.

However, this year also marks the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That might raise a note of caution amongst all those who show such optimism about the impact of UN Conventions and other international statutes. The Universal Declaration guarantees us all a fair trial, freedom from torture, arbitrary arrest or detention, the right to an adequate standard of living and equal pay, amongst other worthy goals. But many of these rights are more notable for how they’re breached rather than how they’re observed – not least in America, land of the free and the host of the United Nations.T he UN Declaration was always a wish list rather than a piece of binding legislation, but don’t look too closely at the more recent Conventions on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, or the Conventions outlawing Torture and Genocide, because you’ll only get depressed at their lack of impact too.

After all, more than 50 of the world’s nations – from Argentina to Zimbabwe – already have anti-discrimination legislation in place to protect the rights of disabled people, and the effectiveness of these specific national laws is, to say the least, mixed. Even the most widely celebrated and much emulated statute, the Americans with Disabilities Act, has had a varied impact. Certainly, disability access is much better in the USA than in most countries, but disabled Americans remain disproportionately poor and socially excluded. There’s even an academic debate raging as to whether the ADA might actually have increased unemployment among disabled people, as the statistics seem to imply.

The English philosopher Jeremy Bentham declared that rights were “nonsense on stilts”. I think he meant that it’s all very well promising people the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but that doesn’t help them very much unless someone is prepared to do something about it. It’s hard, though still possible, to protect negative rights – i.e. the right not to be enslaved – but it’s almost impossible to guarantee positive rights – i.e. the right to employment or the right to have a family.Guaranteeing people formal equality or freedom sounds great, but what really improves quality of life is access to employment or, failing that, adequate welfare benefits or services. Human rights tends to focus on the individual, whereas it’s more often structural and community solutions that are required.Passing disability civil rights statutes is relatively simple and looks nice. Doing something to improve the situation for disabled people is complicated, costly and difficult. So expect lots of the former and less of the latter in future.

Despite my scepticism, I do realise that the UN Convention will have a gradual impact. For those countries who have never imagined that disabled people might have rights, the UN Treaty will be a timely reminder and a guide to action. The requirement to report regularly on the progresss made in implementing disability rights may also have an effect. Symbolically, the new law further contributes to disability being understood as a political issue rather than a medical problem. That’s all brilliant.

Yet I still can’t help making an admittedly loose analogy with Mother’s Day. Every year, on the first Sunday in March, we have a national day on which we buy a card for our mums (if we remember), and perhaps some flowers or chocolates too. That’s nice, that’s right, and so we should. But Mother’s Day is never going to do much to make the world a better place to be a mother. Similarly, I suspect that the UN Convention is only a small part of the immense effort that is required to achieve a better outcome for disabled people. It’s important to remember that no law can deliver everything we hope for.

The venerable English saying “fine words butter no parsnips” springs to mind. Happy anniversary. 

Tom Shakespeare, BBC OUCH MAGAZINE, No 224

By John Register
Associate Director, Outreach & Development, U.S. Paralympics

When I was five or six-years-old and saw a person with a physical or cognitive disability, I would stop, stare, point my finger and might have said, “Look at them Mom and Dad!” as I tugged on her skirt or his coat tail.  It was a new discovery time for me!

My mother or father would usually tell me that it was impolite to stare.  They may have even offered an apology to the person who was the focus of my attention. Then, they would then promptly take me down another aisle, or usher me in some other direction so as not to cause anymore embarrassment to the person or to me.

How many times has this played out in the lives of persons with disabilities?  How many times have we had to endure the ignorance of others?  Later on in my teens, I would see these same individuals through eyes of pity and wonder how they acquired their misfortune. Inevitably, I would avert my eyes or find myself looking for a path of escape and flee to safety so as not to make direct contact with them. I thought those windows of the soul would be able to see right down to my own shallowness. What was I afraid of?  Why did I feel sorry for them?

Amazingly, my perspective has since changed since my accident and subsequent physical disability.  It is ironic that five-year-old kids now staring at me as I walk the store aisles in my shorts that expose my artificial leg.  I can see them out of the corner of my eye tugging on their Moms’ skirts or Dads’ coats , pointing in the direction of their new discovery…me!  I over hear the whispers, “It’s impolite to stare!”

It took a few months for me to overcome the stares of others.  Though I was self conscious about it, I did not do anything about it.  In fact I was very good at becoming oblivious and indifferent to it.  In my opinion it was their ignorance that was the real disability.  I chose not to give the uncomfortable situation life; I chose not to react, not to respond nor give it any attention.  Was some unwritten cycle of avoidance to a social issue was being allowed to continue?

During one of these occasions of perpetual avoidance, I began to think how I might change the outcome of this expected scenario.  After thinking about it, I boiled it down to this – our need for information and the answering of questions, “What happened to you?” and “Why are you different than I?”

My perspective changed the day I sat on a warm summer day in  an airport gate area. I was wearing shorts.  Not so much because it was hot but because I seem to get through the TSA security lines faster!As I sat there two young kids came up to me looked at my leg, and asked me,  “Hey Mister, what happened to your leg?” The question caught me a bit off guard. At the same moment I noticed a smiling woman walking toward me who was probably the mother of one of these two little inquisitive monsters.  I prepared myself for the apology she would offer.  But what she did next shocked me.  Her words were the platform and catalyst for a personal change in my perspective.“Excuse me sir,” she began as she pulled her two children close to her.  “My name is Jenny, and these are my two sons (Kevin and Chris), they are fascinated by your artificial leg.  Would you mind explaining to them how you lost your leg and how this leg helps you get around now?”

I was blown away!  What a simple thing to ask! She just flipped the script on me.  Now, with the other passengers in the area looking at me for a response, I knew the next words out of my mouth would have the impact of giving them a positive or a negative experience about this current situation and perhaps reinforce their perceptions about persons with disabilities. I looked at the lady and her two kids and said, “Sure!”

I proceeded to speak about my athletic career which culminated in winning the silver medal at the 2000 Paralympic Games.  I ended on a positive note saying that no matter what happens to you in life, you can choose to make your life bitter or better because of it.Jenny thanked me.  Her kids thanked me and said, “You’re cool!”  I heard a few chuckles by passengers who were eavesdropping on the conversation.   

I realized at that moment that I was just as much a cause for their ignorance and perception about my leg.  If I wanted people to treat me for who I am then I would have to accept all types of attitudinal perceptions.  From that moment I began to look for teachable moments and do my part to decrease attitudinal and social barriers for the disabled.  With and emphasis on the physical disabled population.Those of us who have a limitation physical or otherwise do not have to shy away from the rest of the people who appear normal. 

 We have a voice and can effectively use it to foster a better world.

JFA Daily 3/5/08

Gerontology Center Sombor hosted on February 2, 2008, workshop on ‘’Sex, Gender, Disability’’, addressed to women with physical and sensory disability and non-disabled women.

This workshop facilitated, psychologist Svetlana Nesic and Svjetlana Timotic, from NGO Out of the Circle, Vojvodina branch, with aim to support women and children with disabilities, victims of violence and discrimination.

This workshop atended PAS users (with their assistants) from Sombor as well as non-disabled women.

Ma Li was a beautiful promising professional ballerina when she lost her right arm in a car accident in 1996. She was only 19. Five years later in 2001, she was invited to compete at the 5th national special performing art competition for handicaps and won the gold medal. That success gave her the hope to return to her beloved stage.

In September 2005, she ran into a 21-year-old young man, Zhai Xiaowei. He had lost one leg in an accident when he was four. He was being trained to be a cyclist for the national special Olympics. He had never danced before, but she invited him to become her dance partner. The rest is history. Last April they won the Silver medal in China’s national dance competition – second out of 7000 competitors.

This video showcases their winning performance http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnLVRQCjh8c 

Organization Living upright from Novi Sad organising two-days seminar Human being and its Environment.

Seminar is taking place on 28/29 of february in Novi Sad.

The aims of the seminar are to provide basic information and conditions for creation, dissemination and developing the standards for accessibility and concepts of Universal Design/design for all in planning and environment creation.

Seminar is addressed to: decisions making, representatives of different professionals dealing with planning and environment creation, media and DPO’s representatives.