Civil
Society Participation in the Americas -
promoting the inclusion of people with disabilities and their
families
In the past
decade, three major civil society and governmental declarations
have been adopted in the Americas that help to protect and advance
the full inclusion of persons with disabilities and their families.
The
Declaration of Managua was adopted in 1993 by civil
society organizations from 36 countries in the Americas. It
aims at advancing social well-being and equality for all persons,
without discrimination on the basis of disability or any other
characteristic.
The
Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities was
adopted in June 1999 by the states of the Organization of American
States OAS). State signatories to the Convention undertake to
adopt legislation and policies to eliminate discrimination and
barriers to access to services, buildings, transportation, communications,
education, the labour market, and social sectors. States commit
also to advancing the integration of persons with disabilities.
The
Summit of the Americas Quebec City Declaration was adopted
in 2001 by the Heads of State and Governments in the Americas
to renew commitments to advancing economic well-being, security,
democracy, good governance, protection of human rights and fundamental
freedoms, social justice, and the realization of human potential
of all people in the Americas.
These are
important civil society and governmental initiatives for people
with disabilities and their families in the Americas. They commit
to the advancement of human rights and full inclusion of all
people, to full democratic participation, to the elimination
of barriers, and to the supports necessary for full equality.
A major
challenge is to bring the expertise, knowledge, and experience
of people with disabilities, their families, and their civil
society organizations to the process of implementing and monitoring
these commitments. This project is designed to develop tools,
capacity, and information by which organizations can play this
role - through website communications, regional training events
in the Americas, and civil society report carding on the Quebec
City Declaration and the OAS Inter-American Convention.
This is
a project of Inclusion Inter-Americana - an inter-American federation
of national organizations advocating the full inclusion and
human rights of persons with intellectual and other disabilities
and their families. It is sponsored by its international federation,
Inclusion International,
and is made possible through the generous financial contribution
of the Canadian
International Development Agency.
Inclusión
Interamericana has began to develop a monitoring system to follow-up
on the inclusive processes fostered by the Declaration of Quebec
City and the Inter-American Convention. Through this system,
it will be possible to produce periodic reports to inform our
lobbying work at national, regional and continental levels.
Your organization
can actively participate in this process by means of two instruments:
A Report Card Survey and A Guide for Personal Stories. You can
co-operate with this effort downloading these documents in word
format and then sending them by e-mail to jguevara@inclusion-ia.org.
Just click on the links bellow:
| Report
Card Survey |
|
| Guide
for Personal Stories |
|
