During the IDA Board Meeting which concluded on Sunday October 4th, the ASEAN Disablity Forum were welcomed as a full member of the Alliance. In March 2016 the ASEAN Disability Forum became an observer member, and have been working closely with IDA and its members over the past year, including a regional BRIDGE training workshop in Southeast Asia, celebrating International Women's Day through events with UN ESCAP, particiapting in the High-level Political Forum for Sustinable Development through the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities, and throughout the HRC SForum 2016. The ASEAN Disability Forum represent DPOs from 10 countries in Southeast Asia: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao's Republic, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philipines, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with one observer - Timor Leste. Visit ASEAN Disablity Forum's website here: aseandisabilityforum.org
Additionally, during IDA's Board Meeting, the Dementia Alliance International (DAI) were welcomed as a new observer member to the Alliance. DAI's members are all people with confirmed diagnosis of any type of a dementia from all around the world, who work to represent, support, and educate others living with the disease, and the wider dementia community. They strive to provide a unified voice of strength, advocacy and support in the fight for individual autonomy and improved quality of life, and are widely accepted as the global voice of dementia. DAI represent themselves through the philosophy of “Nothing about us, without us" in their work to claim human rights for all people with dementia. Visit DAI's website here for more information about their work: dementiaallianceinternational.org
