WE, THE PEOPLES of the Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), represented by the Heads of State or Government of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
RECOGNIZING the enhancement of well-being and livelihood of the peoples of ASEAN by providing them with equitable access to opportunities for human development, social welfare and justice as stipulated in the ASEAN Charter;
REAFFIRMING our commitment to accelerating the establishment of the ASEAN Community by 2015 comprising three pillars, namely the ASEAN Political and Security Community, the ASEAN Economic Community and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community;
RECALLING the Jakarta Declaration adopted at the Regional Conference on ASEAN and Disability on 2 December 2010 that recognizes necessity of persons with disabilities to actively participate in formulating, implementing and evaluating policies related to disability issues in ASEAN region;
RECALLING also the World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled Persons, the Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, in which persons with disabilities are recognized as both development agent and beneficiaries in all aspects of development;
NOTING the Biwako Millennium Framework and Biwako Plus Five for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society in Asia and the Pacific 2003-2012 to ensure effective participation of persons with disabilities in all relevant activities;
REAFFIRMING the potential contribution of persons with disabilities and their important role and participation in the implementation of all action lines under the ASEAN Socio Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint which includes the scope of cooperation in social welfare and development of children, persons with disabilities and the elderly with sustained impact both nationally and regionally in the establishment of ASEAN Community by 2015;
COGNISANT that the promotion and protection of the human rights and fundamental freedom of the persons with disabilities in strengthening their full participation will result in their enhanced sense of belonging and in significant advances in the human, social and economic development of society and the eradication of poverty;
EMPHASIZING the importance of mainstreaming disabilities issues as an integral part of relevant strategies of sustainable development;
DO HEREBY DECLARE TO:
1. Encourage ASEAN Member States to sign and ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and foster its implementation in the communities;
2. Proclaim the ASEAN Decade of Persons with Disabilities (2011-2020) and its related initiatives as the theme is to promote disability-inclusive development within ASEAN;
3. Welcome the initiative of ASEAN Disabled People’s Organisations for establishing the ASEAN Disability Forum, a joint efforts of multi-stakeholders, including ASEAN Member States, the ASEAN Secretariat, international development agencies, civil society organisations, media, business sector, academic groups, Disabled People’s Organisations (DPOs), disability-related organisations and their parents/family organisations;
4. Urge that ASEAN Member States to promote the quality of life of the persons with disabilities in the context of poverty alleviation and develop regional statistical indicators in ASEAN to measure the development of vulnerable groups, particularly persons with disabilities;
5. Ensure the fulfillment of the rights of persons with disabilities in all aspects of life through mainstreaming disability perspective in the development and implementation of ASEAN policies and programmes across the economic, political security and socio-cultural pillars of the ASEAN Community;
6. Continue to raise awareness on disability issues and to increase outreach activities for all society ranging from local, national and regional levels by using various media and involving all components of the society;
7. Encourage the participation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of development including their participation in political activities by providing them with equal political rights in the election of the leaders and parliamentarians, both at local and national levels;
8. Encourage the government and civil society organisations, including NGOs, to protect the rights of persons with disabilities, particularly older persons, women and children, by accommodating their needs through the ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) and relevant ASEAN sectoral bodies;
9. Encourage ASEAN Member States to develop national plan of actions on disability and allocate their national budget through relevant line-ministry/agency for empowering persons with disabilities;
10. Facilitate and encourage persons with disabilities to participate in formulating, implementing and evaluating policies and programmes related to disability issues;
11. Encourage ASEAN Member States to promote, develop and diversify social services supporting persons with disabilities in the field of social welfare and employment;
12. Encourage ASEAN Member States to accelerate the implementation of the Biwako Millennium Framework and Biwako Plus Five for Action Towards An Inclusive, Barrier-Free and Rights-based Society in Asia and the Pacific 2003-2012;
13. Enhance sharing of information, good/best practices and experiences on issues concerning persons with disabilities as well as encourage the development of new knowledge through researches, analysis and trainings;
14. Work towards equal opportunities of persons with disabilities to education especially basic education and alternative means of communication including sign language, Braille and the like;
15. Emphasize the need of providing accessibility to public facilities and amenities, public transportation, education, employment, information communication and technology (ICT), recreation as well as sports for persons with disabilities in ASEAN;
16. Mainstream disability issues in disaster management policies and programmes at regional, national and community levels;
17. Develop social security schemes in ASEAN Member States for protecting persons with disabilities, especially those with severe disabilities;
18. Develop the social inclusiveness of persons with disabilities which includes the development of leadership, community inclusive, gender-sensitive and socially inclusive business;
19. Encourage international development agencies and other international institutions to support the implementation of the disability policies and programs in the ASCC Blueprint;
20. Encourage the mass media, regardless of its scale and coverage, to be culturally and gender sensitive in promoting the accurate information and image of disability and persons with disabilities in ASEAN;
We hereby pledge our commitment to task the concerned Ministers of ASEAN Sectoral Bodies to implement this Declaration.
Adopted in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia, this Seventeenth Day of November in the Year Two Thousand and Eleven.
Sumber: asean.org
