Newsletter from IDA Secretariat | 7 May 2018

By IDA

 - May 7, 2018

Logo of all the Members of IDA

IN THIS EDITION:

  1. Highlights
  2. Treaty Bodies Review, Geneva 2017-2018
  3. UN System, Agencies and Mechanism
  4. SDGs Monitoring Process
  5. Activities in the Past Weeks
  6. Upcoming Activities
  7. IDA Members
  8. Other

1. HIGHLIGHTS:

SECOND ISSUE OF UPDATES ON THE UK GLOBAL DISABILITY SUMMIT, JULY 2018, LONDON

  • As co-host of the UK Global Disability Summit, IDA, in consultation with the Civil Society Reference Group for the Summit (more information on this group here), will be sharing periodic updates with civil society partners and other stakeholders participating in the preparations to the Summit. This includes partners participating in the thematic working groups of the Summit (click here to read the latest update). 

11TH  SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF STATES PARTIES (COSP), 12-14 JUNE, NEW YORK, USA

  • The 11th Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will take place from 12-14 June 2018 at UN Headquarters in New York, USA. The Bureau of the 11th Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the CRPD is hosting a Civil Society Briefing for all interested organisations, on 17 May 2018 from 1.15 pm to 2.30 pm in CR 9. Read more here.  Please note you must have a valid UN Grounds Pass to enter the UN Premises and join the meeting. If you are unable to attend this briefing, please provide written contributions by 16 May 2018 directly to tavades [at] ida-secretariat.org ().
  • On 12 June 2018, during the 11th Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States Parties will elect 9 experts to the CRPD Committee. The GQUAL Campaign, IDA and IDDC call upon States Parties to promote gender balance as well as quality and independence amongst the experts within the elections for the CRPD Committee. More information available on IDA’s website.

2. TREATY BODIES REVIEWS, GENEVA 2017-2018

11TH  SESSION OF THE CONFERENCE OF STATES PARTIES (COSP), 12-14 JUNE, NEW YORK, USA

  • On 12 June 2018, during the 11th Session of the Conference of States Parties (COSP) to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, States Parties will elect 9 experts to the CRPD Committee. The GQUAL Campaign, IDA and IDDC call upon States Parties to promote gender balance as well as quality and independence amongst the experts within the elections for the CRPD Committee. More information available on IDA’s website.

CONSULTATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS WITH ORGANIZATIONS IN CONSULTATIVE STATUS WITH ECOSOC

  • The Committee on Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), is holding consultations with organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC to discuss questions of interest to the Committee or to the organizations relating to the relationship between the NGOs and the United Nations in line with paragraph 61 (a) of ECOSOC resolution 1996/31.  The ground-breaking consultations will take the form of written submissions and an interactive hearing which will be held in New York, USA on 22 June 2018 from 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.  NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC can register to participate in the interactive hearing through the Indico registration system. The deadline for registration is 11 June 2018. As part of the consultation process, all NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC are invited to submit their contributions and views on four key questions ahead of the hearing here. The deadline for submitting contributions is 31 May 2018. Please refer to the attached Note (in English, French and Spanish) for further details. Your submissions to each question should not exceed 500 words.

3. UN SYSTEM, AGENCIES AND MECHANISM

THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT OF EVERYONE TO THE ENJOYMENT OF THE HIGHEST ATTAINABLE STANDARD OF PHYSICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH, OFFICIAL VISIT TO KYRGYZSTAN FROM 22 TO 31 MAY 2018

  • The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Dainius Puras, will conduct an official visit to Kyrgyzstan from 22 to 31 May 2018. During his visit, he plans to hold meetings with different interlocutors and visit different sites and facilities in Bishkek and the Chui, Osh and Jalal-Abad regions. Issues in focus for the visit will include: health system and universal health coverage with special attention on access by migrants, refugees, IDPs, minorities, persons with disabilities and LGBTI persons, amongst others - he will also look at the item of human resources in the medical sphere and brain drain; mental health with particular attention to treatment in large institutions versus outpatient’s services; healthcare in detention, as well as the right to health of adolescents, linked to, inter alia, sexual and reproductive health rights. (c.f. annex 1 for the background note to the visit). Please send information to the Special Rapporteur at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (srhealth [at] ohchr.org)">srhealth [at] ohchr.org) no later than 11 May 2018, but also during or after the mission.

 UNDP KUWAIT CONSULTANCIES OFFERS

 PAGE ON IDA WEBSITE DEDICATED TO ON WEBINARS ABOUT THE UN SYSTEM AND PROCESSES

4. SDGS MONITORING PROCESS

7TH MEETING OF THE UN’S EXPERT GROUP ON SDG INDICATORS (IAEG-SDGS)

2018 FORUM ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT (FFD), 23-26 APRIL 2018, NEW YORK, USA

  • The 2018 Forum on Financing for Development follow-up (FfD Forum) was held at the UN in New York from 23 to 26 April 2018. For the first time, persons with disabilities have been strongly included in FfD follow up as a result of long-term advocacy. In addition, the Forum’s inter-governmentally agreed conclusions and recommendations are for the first time inclusive with three explicit references to persons with disabilities. This outcome document is important as it feeds into the overall follow-up and review of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the HLPF on Sustainable Development. More information available on IDA’s website.

WEBINAR ON FINANCING FOR DEVELOPMENT (FFD) AND PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

  • A webinar on financing for development (FfD) and persons with disabilities will be held on 10 May 2018 from 10-11am EDT. Participants will be introduced to the UN processes and the 2018 FfD Forum. Key points gathered from the Stakeholder Group of Persons with Disabilities and related FfD position papers will be discussed. Also, an update will be provided on the OECD DAC Marker and FfD debates and linkages with persons with disabilities. Click here to register. The webinar will provide International Sign interpretation and real-time captioning. The webinar will be recorded and shared later for those who cannot join.

APPLICATIONS TO RECEIVE TRAVEL FUNDING FOR THE 2018 HLPF PARTICIPANTS IS OPEN

  • The UN, with thanks to a generous grant from the European Commission, will be funding a number of representatives of Major Groups and Other Stakeholders from developing Voluntary National Review countries to participate in the 2018 session of the HLPF taking place from 10-18 July 2018, in New York, USA. The selected colleagues will receive funding to support airplane tickets, two days of daily subsistence allowances and terminal expenses during the HLPF. Persons with disabilities are invited to apply. Prior to the application, you have to register to HLPF: Nominee must have dully registered and be accredited to attend the 2018 HLPF (click here to register to HLPF). To apply for funding please use this form (or click here). Deadline for applications for funding is 22 May 2018. Kindly keep in mind this is a fairly complicated UN process. If you encounter any problem/difficulties, we encourage you to reach out to hlpf2018 [at] ida-secretariat.org ().

AFRICA REGIONAL FORUM ON SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

  • The 2018 Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development was held on 2-4 May 2018 in Dakar, Senegal. Mahamadou Oumarou Manou attended the event.

HLPF BULLETIN # 7

5. ACTIVITIES IN THE PAST WEEKS

  • IASC Task Team on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action: Latin American Regional Consultation: RIADIS, in partnership with the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Task Team on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action and IDA (co-chair of the Task Team), held a regional multi-stakeholder consultation for the Latin America Region on 3 – 4 May 2018 in Quito, Ecuador. Around 50 participants including DPOs, humanitarian and development stakeholders, intergovernmental organizations based in the Latin American region and government representatives of Ecuador were gathered to discuss priority areas and key components of the Guidelines. More information available on IDA’s website.

6. UPCOMING ACTIVITIES 

MAY

  • WORLD CONFERENCE ON DISASTER RISK REDUCTION: The Second World Conference on Disability and Disaster Risk Management will be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh from 15–17 May 2018.

JUNE                                                                                                                         

  • 2018 Helen Keller World Conference: The 11th Helen Keller World Conference will take place on 19-27 June 2018 in Benidorm, Spain. With the main topic: “Our rights; Our Voice; We lead the Way”, the 11th HKWC 2018 will focus on strengthening human rights, democracy and equality through the full and equal inclusion of persons with deafblindness in all aspects of the global, regional, national and local society in which we live. Registration forms are available for download on WFDB’s website.
  • COSP: The 11th Session of the Conference of States Parties to the CRPD will take place on 12-14 June 2018, at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA. Among other agenda items, the session will expect to feature an election of 9 members of the CRPD Committee.

JULY

  • 2018 UK DISABILITY SUMMIT: IDA will be co-hosting the first UK global disability summit with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) on 24 July 2018, at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, in London, United Kingdom.  The objectives of the Summit are to: raise global attention and focus on a neglected area; to bring in new voices and approaches to broaden engagement; to mobilize new global and national commitments on disability, and to showcase good practices and evidence from across the world.

AUGUST

  • CRPD: The 20th Session of the CRPD committee will take place from 20 August 2018 to 7 September 2017, in Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland.

OCTOBER

  • UN WORLD DATA FORUM: The UN World Data Forum 2018 will take place in Dubai, UAE from 22-24 October 2018. The event will bring together data leaders from diverse stakeholder groups, including national and international statistical systems, academia, business community and civil society. The aim of the forum is to exchange ideas, showcase innovations, identify solutions, discuss future strategies, and provide mutual learning opportunities on a wide variety of topics. More information available on the website of the UN World Data Forum.

7. IDA MEMBERS

European Disability Forum

  • The Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) is currently working on a guidance paper to include persons with disabilities in the humanitarian actions they fund. EDF is providing input to this process. Learn more here.
  • The European Federation of Hard of Hearing people (EFHOH) held a workshop on the situation and the accessibility for hard of hearing people in Europeon 25 April 2018, in Brussels, Belgium. With an innovate approach, EFHOH explained very clearly the challenges. The first part has explained the situation through a listening simulation as hard of hearing persons and illustrated by different cases. The second part was a description of different hearing technologies (T-Coils, Hearing Loops systems, captions).
  • Funding is available as part of the project Make Europe Sustainable for All. This financial support is available to local level civil society groups campaigning on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The deadline is6 May 2018. Proposals coming from one of the mentioned countries could be eligible either for a smaller grant of up to 1,000€ (LOT 1, 3 projects will be selected in each of the project countries) or a grant of up to 7,000€ (LOT 2, three projects will be selected across the project countries). Click here to apply for SDGs funding. Please contact Marion Steff if you need support. 

International Federation on Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus

  • IF 28th International Conference on Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus "Making the Invisible Visible", organised with the Spina Bifida Foundation India, will take place from 10-12 August 2018 in New Dellhi, India. Click here to register. The event will gather international Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus researchers and healthcare professionals specializing in a wide range of medical disciplines.  More information available here.
  • UNICEF launched a new report and campaign, “Every Child ALIVE”, which focuses on newborn deaths and the urgent need to prevent this from happening. Every day, 7,000 newborn babies are dying. IF responded by showing its support to the initiative, but also by expressing its concern about the lack of focus on the extremely vulnerable group of newborns with birth defects and disabilities and the discrimination they face in access to healthcare. Read more here.

World Federation of the Deaf

  • The World Federation of the Deaf is currently recruiting a new executive director. Deadline for applications is 21 May 2018. More information and application package is available on WFD’s website.   
  • The WFD was invited for the first time in history to the 10th annual UN Minority Forum in Geneva, Switzerland on 30 November 2017. Sign languages as minority languages were warmly received. More information available on WFD’s website.
  • In conjunction with the 77th Session of the CRC, the WFD hosted a side-event from 25-26 January 2018 in Geneva, Switzerland. The side-event was moderated by WFD President Colin Allen and panellists included Krister Schönström, a deaf professor from Stockholm University, and Arancha Diez, deaf expert and representative from the National Confederation of the Deaf in Spain (CNSE), WFD Ordinary Member, as well as WFD Human Rights Officer Eeva Tupi. The presentations covered topics like how learning sign language affects cognitive development of deaf children, what kind of information and support should be provided to families to ensure that deaf children have access to sign language in early childhood, how a sign language environment should be ensured in educational settings and an overview about deaf children in Spain. More information available on WFD’s website.

8. OTHER

  • SUBMISSION FROM CHRUSP AND THE ABSOLUTE PROHIBITION CAMPAIGN: CHRUSP and the Absolute Prohibition Campaign produced an initial submission addressing foundational issues about people with actual and perceived psychosocial disabilities.  Click here to read the document.
  • EUROPEAN UNION AGENCY FOR FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS: The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) released three easy-read reports on deinstitutionalization. Read the reports here.
  • FUTURELEARN: A free 3-week online course developed by the University of East Anglia will start on FutureLearn. The course entitled "The Role of Personal Assistants in Disability Support" will cover how to improve the relationships between personal assistants and people with disabilities. Read more here.
  • CALL FOR PROPOSALS: A call is open for proposals to use technology to accelerate teacher professional development towards achieving SDG 4: Landscape review and research agenda. This research should include approaches that meet the diverse needs of teachers' professional development (TPD), including for teachers with disabilities. As well, this should include research on TPD content to prepare teachers for addressing the needs of the full spectrum of learners, including the needs of learners with disabilities. If you are interested in submitting a proposal, please send your questions regarding the Call to Justin Modesto (jgmodesto [at] fit-ed.org). The deadline for submitting the full proposal is 18 May 2018 5:00 PM EST. Send full proposals to dl4d [at] fit-ed.org. More information available here.

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