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Proposals for the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled
Persons
International Action
General aspects
The World Programme of Action, as adopted by the General
Assembly, constitutes an international long-term plan based on extensive consultations
with Governments, organs and bodies within the United Nations system and intergovernmental
and non-governmental organizations, including organizations of and for disabled persons.
Progress in reaching the goals of the Programme could be achieved more quickly,
efficiently and economically if close cooperation were maintained at every level.
In view of the role that the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of
the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs has been playing within the
United Nations in the field of disability prevention, rehabilitation and equalization of
opportunities for disabled persons, the Centre should be designated as the focal point for
coordinating and monitoring the implementation of the World Programme of Action, including
its review and appraisal.
The Trust Fund established by the General Assembly for the International Year of
Disabled Persons should be used to meet requests for assistance from developing countries
and organizations of disabled persons and to further the implementation of the World
Programme of Action.
In general, there is a need to increase the flow of resources to developing countries
to implement the objectives of the World Programme of Action. Therefore, the Secretary
General should explore new ways and means of raising funds and take the necessary
follow-up measures for mobilizing resources. Voluntary contributions from Governments and
from private sources should be encouraged.
The Administrative Committee on Coordination should consider the implications of the
World Programme of Action for the organizations within the United Nations system and
should use the existing mechanisms for continuing liaison and coordination of policy and
action, including overall approaches on technical cooperation.
International non-governmental organizations should join in the cooperative effort to
accomplish the objectives of the World Programme of Action. Existing relationships between
such organizations and the United Nations system should be used for this purpose.
All international organizations and bodies are urged to cooperate with, and assist,
organizations composed of, or representing disabled persons and to ensure that they have
opportunities to make their views known when subjects related to the World Programme of
Action are discussed.
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In order to achieve the theme of the International Year of
Disabled Persons, "Full participation and equality", it is strongly urged that
the United Nations system make all its facilities totally barrier-free, ensure that
communication is fully available to sensorially impaired persons and adopt an affirmative
action plan that includes administrative policies and practices to encourage the
employment of disabled persons in the entire United Nations system.
In considering the status of disabled persons with respect to human rights, priority
should be placed on the use of United Nations covenants and other instruments, as well as
those of other international organizations within the United Nations system that protect
the rights of all persons. This principle is consistent with the theme of the
International Year of Disabled Persons, "Full participation and equality".
Specifically, organizations and bodies involved in the United Nations system
responsible for the preparation and administration of international agreements, covenants
and other instruments that might have a direct or indirect impact on disabled people
should ensure that such instruments fully take into account the situation of persons who
are disabled.
The States parties to the International Covenants on Human Rights should pay due
attention, in their reports, to the application of the Covenants to the situation of
disabled persons. The working group of the Economic and Social Council entrusted with the
examination of reports under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights and the Commission on Human Rights, which has the function of examining reports
under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, should pay due attention
to this aspect of the reports.
Particular conditions may exist which inhibit the ability of disabled persons to
exercise the human rights and freedoms recognized as universal to all mankind
Consideration should be given by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to such
conditions.
National committees or similar coordinating bodies dealing with problems of disability
should also pay attention to such conditions.
Incidents of gross violation of basic human rights, including torture, can be a cause
of mental and physical disability. The Commission on Human Rights should give
consideration, interalia, to such violations for the purpose of taking appropriate
ameliorative action.
The Commission on Human Rights should continue to consider methods of achieving
international cooperation for the implementation of internationally recognized basic
rights for all, including disabled persons.
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The developing countries are experiencing increasing difficulties
in mobilizing adequate resources for meeting the pressing needs of disabled persons and
the millions of disadvantaged persons in these countries in the face of the pressing
demands from high priority sectors such as agriculture, rural and industrial development,
population control, etc., concerned with basic needs. Their efforts should therefore be
supported by the international community, in line with paragraphs 82 and 83 above, and the
flow of resources to developing countries should be substantially increased, as stated in
the International Development Strategy for the Third United Nations Development Decade.
Inasmuch as most international technical cooperation and donor agencies can undertake
to collaborate with national endeavours only on the basis of official requests from
Governments, increased efforts should be made by all parties concerned with the
establishment of programmes related to disabled persons to apprise Governments of the
exact nature of the support that can be sought from these agencies.
The Vienna Affirmative Action Plan 9/ prepared by the World Symposium of Experts on
Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries and Technical Assistance in Disability
Prevention and Rehabilitation of Disabled Persons could serve as a guideline for the
implementation of technical cooperation activities within the World Programme of Action.
Those organizations within the United Nations system that have a mandate, resources and
experience in areas related to the World Programme should explore, with the Governments to
which they are accredited, ways of adding to existing or planned projects in different
sectors components that would respond to the specific needs of disabled persons and the
prevention of disability.
All international organizations whose activities have a bearing on financial and
technical cooperation should be encouraged to ensure that priority is accorded to requests
from Member States for assistance in the prevention of disability, rehabilitation and the
equalization of opportunities which are in accordance with their natural priorities. Such
measures will ensure the allocation of increased resources for both capital investment and
recurrent expenditure for services related to prevention, rehabilitation and equalization
of opportunities. This action should be reflected in the programmes for economic and
social development of all multilateral and bilateral aid agencies, including technical
cooperation among developing countries.
In seeking to collaborate with Governments to serve better the needs of disabled
persons, the various United Nations organizations, as well as bilateral and private
institutions, should closely coordinate their inputs in order to contribute more
efficiently to the attainment of established goals.
As most of the United Nations organizations involved already have the specific
responsibility of promoting the establishment of projects or the addition of project
components directed towards disabled persons, a clearer division of responsibilities, as
set out below, should be established among them in order to improve the response of the
United Nations system to the challenge of the International Year of Disabled Persons and
the World Programme of Action:
- The United Nations and, in particular, the Department of Technical Cooperation for
Development should, together with the specialized agencies and other intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations, carry out technical cooperation activities in support of
the implementation of the World Programme of Action; in this connection, the Centre for
Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Department of International Economic
and Social Affairs should continue to give substantive support, in the implementation of
the World Programme of Action, to technical cooperation projects and activities;
- The United Nations Development Programme should continue to use its field establishment
to give considerable attention, within its normal programmes and procedures, to project
requests from Governments that specially respond to the needs of disabled persons and to
prevention of disability. It should particularly encourage technical cooperation in the
field of disability prevention, rehabilitation and equalization of opportunities by using
its various programmes and services, such as technical cooperation among developing
countries, global and interregional projects and the Interim Fund for Science and
Technology;
- The main efforts of UNICEF would continue to be directed towards better preventive
measures involving greater support for maternal and child health services, health
education, disease control and the improvement of nutrition; for those who are already
disabled, UNICEF encourages the development of integrated education projects and supports
rehabilitation activities at the community level, using inexpensive local resources;
- The specialized agencies, within their mandate and sectoral responsibilities, should
give, on the basis of requests from Governments, still greater emphasis to efforts to help
meet the needs of disabled persons by using the chances offered to them through the
programming processes of individual countries and the establishment of regional,
interregional and global projects, as well as through the use of their own resources, when
feasible. Their different spheres of responsibility in this respect should be as follows:
ILO-vocational rehabilitation and occupational safety and health; UNESCO-education of
disabled children and adults; WHO-prevention of disability and medical rehabilitation;
FAO-improvement of nutrition;
- In their lending activities, multilateral financial institutions should take into
serious consideration the objectives and proposals of the World Programme of Action.
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The regional commissions of the United Nations and other regional
bodies should encourage regional and sub-regional cooperation in the area of prevention of
disability, rehabilitation of disabled persons and equalization of opportunities. They
should monitor progress in their regions, identify needs, collect and analyze information,
sponsor action-oriented research, supply advisory services and engage in technical
cooperation activities. They should include in their action plans research and
development, preparation of information materials and the training of personnel; and they
should, as an interim measure, facilitate activities in the field of technical cooperation
among developing countries which are related to the objectives of the World Programme of
Action. They should promote the development of organizations of disabled persons as an
essential resource in developing the activities referred to earlier in this paragraph.
Member States, in cooperation with regional bodies and commissions, should be
encouraged to establish regional (or sub- regional) institutes or offices to promote the
interests of persons with a disability, in consultation with organizations of disabled
persons and the appropriate international organizations. Other functions should be to
promote the activities mentioned above. It is important to understand that the function of
the institutes is not to provide direct services but to promote innovative concepts like
community-based rehabilitation, coordination, information, training and advice in
organizational development of disabled persons.
Donor countries should attempt to find the means within their bilateral and
multilateral technical assistance programmes to respond to requests for assistance from
Member States relating to national or regional measures in the area of prevention,
rehabilitation and the equalization of opportunities. These measures should include
assistance to appropriate agencies and/or organizations to expand cooperative arrangements
within and between regions. Technical cooperation agencies should actively recruit
disabled persons at all levels and functions, including field positions.
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The United Nations should carry out and continue activities to increase public
awareness of the objectives of the World Programme of Action. To this end the substantive
offices should regularly and automatically furnish the Department of Public Information
(DPI) with information on their activities so as to enable it to publicize these
activities through press releases, features, newsletters, fact sheets, booklets, radio and
television interviews and in any other appropriate forms.
All agencies involved in projects and programmes that are connected with the World
Programme of Action should continue in their endeavours to inform the public. Research
should be undertaken by those agencies whose fields of specialization require involvement
in such activity.
The United Nations, in collaboration with the specialized agencies concerned, should
develop innovative approaches using a variety of media for conveying information,
including the principles and objectives of the World Programme of Action, to audiences not
regularly reached by conventional media or which are unaccustomed to using such media.
International organizations should assist national and community bodies in the
preparation of public education programmes by suggesting curricula and providing teaching
materials and background information about the objectives of the World Programme of
Action.
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Notes:
9/ United Nations document IYDP/SYMP/L.2/Rev.1 of 16 March 1982
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