UN commission for Asia-Pacific creating opportunities for disabled persons

A United Nations regional commission and several countries in Asia and the Pacific are forging ahead with the all-out fight for a barrier-free and inclusive society for persons with disabilities by providing vocational training, employment opportunities and strengthening self-help organizations in the region.

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) Executive Secretary Kim Hak-Su said today governments in Asia and the Pacific have set ambitious goals for themselves in the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action.

“This Framework suggests strategies and targets for equalizing opportunities for persons with disabilities, and the UNESCAP secretariat is actively striving to assist Governments and civil society to achieve this goal,” Mr. Hak-Su said at the inaugural session of the Commission’s Committee on Emerging Social Issues in Bangkok.

Thailand and the Japan International Cooperation Agency are cooperating to set up the Asia-Pacific Development Centre on Disability, to open officially in 2004. The Center, in close cooperation with UNESCAP, is already carrying out a full programme of training courses.

Delegates at the inaugural session also heard startling figures on the number of disabled people living in severe poverty. “It is estimated that 400 million persons with disabilities live in the Asian and Pacific region. Among them, about 160 million are still suffering from severe poverty,” Senator Eita Yashiro, a prominent Japanese advocate for people with disabilities, told the gathering.

“Many persons with disabilities in this region are still desperately searching for help and wisdom, to be able to live with human dignity,” he stated.