What Diah Has Shared: Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons

Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 2856 (XXVI) of 20 December 1971 

 The General Assembly,

Mindful of the pledge of the States Members of the United Nations under the Charter to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization to promote higher standards of living, full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development, 

Reaffirming faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms and in the principles of peace, of the dignity and worth of the human person and of social justice proclaimed in the Charter,

Recalling the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the standards already set for social progress in the constitutions, conventions, recommendations and resolutions of the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and other organizations concerned,

Emphasizing that the Declaration on Social Progress and Development has proclaimed the necessity of protecting the rights and assuring the welfare and rehabilitation of the physically and mentally disadvantaged, 

Bearing in mind the necessity of assisting mentally retarded persons to develop their abilities in various fields of activities and of promoting their integration as far as possible in normal life, 

Aware that certain countries, at their present stage of development, can devote only limited efforts to this end, 

Proclaims this Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons and calls for national and international action to en sure that it will be used as a common basis and frame of reference for the protection of these rights:  

1. The mentally retarded person has, to the maximum degree of feasibility, the same rights as other human beings.  

2. The mentally retarded person has a right to proper medical care and physical therapy and to such education, training, rehabilitation and guidance as will enable him to develop his ability and maximum potential. 

3. The mentally retarded person has a right to economic security and to a decent standard of living. He has a right to perform productive work or to engage in any other meaningful occupation to the fullest possible extent of his capabilities.  

4. Whenever possible, the mentally retarded person should live with his own family or with foster parents and participate in different forms of community life. The family with which he lives should receive assistance. If care in an institution becomes necessary, it should be provided in surroundings and other circumstances as close as possible to those of normal life. 

5. The mentally retarded person has a right to a qualified guardian when this is required to protect his personal well-being and interests.

6. The mentally retarded person has a right to protection from exploitation, abuse and degrading treatment. If prosecuted for any offence, he shall have a right to due process of law with full recognition being given to his degree of mental responsibility.  

7. Whenever mentally retarded persons are unable, because of the severity of their handicap, to exercise all their rights in a meaningful way or it should become necessary to restrict or deny some or all of these rights, the procedure used for that restriction or denial of rights must contain proper legal safeguards against every form of abuse. This procedure must be based on an evaluation of the social capability of the mentally retarded person by qualified experts and must be subject to periodic review and to the right of appeal to higher authorities.

What Diah Has Shared: Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons

Proclaimed by General Assembly resolution 3447 (XXX) of 9 December 1975

The General Assembly,

Mindful of the pledge made by Member States, under the Charter of the United Nations to take joint and separate action in co-operation with the Organization to promote higher standards of living, full employment and conditions of economic and social progress and development,

Reaffirming its faith in human rights and fundamental freedoms and in the principles of peace, of the dignity and worth of the human person and of social justice proclaimed in the Charter,

Recalling the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenants on Human Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of the Child and the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons, as well as the standards already set for social progress in the constitutions, conventions, recommendations and resolutions of the International Labour Organisation, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children's Fund and other organizations concerned,

Recalling also Economic and Social Council resolution 1921 (LVIII) of 6 May 1975 on the prevention of disability and the rehabilitation of disabled persons,

Emphasizing that the Declaration on Social Progress and Development has proclaimed the necessity of
protecting the rights and assuring the welfare and rehabilitation of the physically and mentally disadvantaged,

Bearing in mind the necessity of preventing physical and mental disabilities and of assisting disabled persons to develop their abilities in the most varied fields of activities and of promoting their integration as far as possible in normal life,

Aware that certain countries, at their present stage of development, can devote only limited efforts to this end,

Proclaims this Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons and calls for national and international action to ensure that it will be used as a common basis and frame of reference for the protection of these rights:

1. The term "disabled person" means any person unable to ensure by himself or herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of a normal individual and/or social life, as a result of deficiency, either congenital or not, in his or her physical or mental capabilities.

2. Disabled persons shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. These rights shall be granted to all disabled persons without any exception whatsoever and without distinction or discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, state of wealth, birth or any other situation applying either to the disabled person himself or herself or to his or her family.

3. Disabled persons have the inherent right to respect for their human dignity. Disabled persons, whatever the origin, nature and seriousness of their handicaps and disabilities, have the same fundamental rights as their fellow-citizens of the same age, which implies first and foremost the right to enjoy a decent life, as normal and full as possible.

4. Disabled persons have the same civil and political rights as other human beings; paragraph 7 of the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons applies to any possible limitation or suppression of those rights for mentally disabled persons.

5. Disabled persons are entitled to the measures designed to enable them to become as self-reliant as possible.

6. Disabled persons have the right to medical, psychological and functional treatment, including prosthetic and orthetic appliances, to medical and social rehabilitation, education, vocational training and rehabilitation, aid, counselling, placement services and other services which will enable them to develop their capabilities and skills to the maximum and will hasten the processes of their social integration or reintegration.

7. Disabled persons have the right to economic and social security and to a decent level of living. They have the right, according to their capabilities, to secure and retain employment or to engage in a useful, productive and remunerative occupation and to join trade unions.

8. Disabled persons are entitled to have their special needs taken into consideration at all stages of economic and social planning.

9. Disabled persons have the right to live with their families or with foster parents and to participate in all social, creative or recreational activities. No disabled person shall be subjected, as far as his or her residence is concerned, to differential treatment other than that required by his or her condition or by the improvement which he or she may derive therefrom. If the stay of a disabled person in a specialized establishment is indispensable, the environment and living conditions therein shall be as close as possible to those of the normal life of a person of his or her age.

10. Disabled persons shall be protected against all exploitation, all regulations and all treatment of a discriminatory, abusive or degrading nature.

11. Disabled persons shall be able to avail themselves of qualified legal aid when such aid proves indispensable for the protection of their persons and property. If judicial proceedings are instituted against them, the legal procedure applied shall take their physical and mental condition fully into account.

12. Organizations of disabled persons may be usefully consulted in all matters regarding the rights of disabled persons.

13. Disabled persons, their families and communities shall be fully informed, by all appropriate means, of the rights contained in this Declaration.

What Diah Has Shared: BALI DECLARATION ON THE ENHANCEMENT OF THE ROLE AND PARTICIPATION OF THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES IN ASEAN COMMUNITY

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

What Diah Has Shared: THE JAKARTA DECLARATION

THE JAKARTA DECLARATION

Regional Conference on ASEAN and Disability

1-2 December 2010, Jakarta, Indonesia

We, the representatives of different sectors from 14 countries participating in the Regional Conference on ASEAN and Disability in Hotel Bidakara Jakarta, Indonesia from 1-2 December 2010, which is co-organized by Disabled Peoples’ International Asia-Pacific and Persatuan Penyandang Cacat Indonesia and funded by the Nippon Foundation:

Appreciating the support of the Indonesian Government and its disability community for successfully organizing this event and welcoming the leadership of Indonesian Government as the next chairing country of ASEAN Summit,

Recognizing that the member states of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, are moving ahead towards the creation of ASEAN Community in 2015,

Showing expectation that Timor Leste will be the 11^th member state of ASEAN in the near future and will implement the policies of ASEAN,

Appreciating ASEAN’s initiatives that its Strategic Framework on Social Welfare, Family and Development (2011-2015) addresses disability issues,

Mindful, however, that 60 million persons with disabilities living in ASEAN are still largely marginalized in society due to the physical, informational, attitudinal and systemic barriers,

Recognizing the important roles of ASEAN Secretariat in facilitating the governments and civil society,

Recognizing the necessity of mainstreaming disability perspectives in ASEAN human rights mechanisms such as ASEAN Inter-governmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and ASEAN Commission for the Promotion and Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) , as well as three Blueprints, namely ASEAN Political-Security Blueprint, ASEAN Economic Blueprint and ASEAN Socio-Cultural Blueprint,

Reaffirming the significance of all international and regional documents on disability, in particular, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Biwako Millennium Framework for Action towards an Inclusive, Barrier-free and Rights-based Society for Persons with Disabilities in Asia and the Pacific (BMF) and the Biwako Plus Five, the supplement to the BMF,

Recognizing that the two Decades of persons with disabilities in Asia and the Pacific since 1993 have made a lot of achievements and that a new decade to implement the CRPD from 2013 is being considered,

Also, recognizing the significance of the theme of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities 2010, "Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond",

Welcoming more different stakeholders, including government sector, civil society, media and business sector, which begin to pay more attention to disability issues in ASEAN region,

Urging the ASEAN member states to sign, ratify and implement the CRPD,

Lastly, recognizing the central role of persons with disabilities in decision making and the need to further build the capacity of persons with disabilities,

Hereby unanimously agree to declare as follows:

1.      ASEAN Disability Forum should be established as a joint effort of multi-stakeholders, including ASEAN Secretariat, ASEAN member states, international development agencies, civil society organizations (CSO), media, business sector, academic groups, disability related organizations and disabled people’s organizations (DPO) and their family organizations.

2.      ASEAN Disability Forum will organize its inaugural meeting in 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand and will have annual meetings with the participation of multi-stakeholders.

3.      ASEAN Secretariat should play its important and active role in facilitation of the governments and other stakeholders towards the successful ASEAN Disability Forum, as mentioned in the ASEAN Charter.

4.      ASEAN Secretariat should encourage all member states to lead the observance of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in the region.

5.      ASEAN member states should be encouraged to mainstream disability perspectives in their development policies through supporting and promoting ASEAN Disability Forum in collaboration with other stakeholders, especially DPOs.

6.      ASEAN human rights mechanism should be encouraged to mainstream disability perspectives in its structure and activities in order to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

7.      ASEAN member states, in collaboration with other stakeholders including DPOs and CSOs, should promote the policy to ensure the access to society of persons with disabilities on an equal basis with others through promoting the independent living of persons with disabilities, inclusive social development, information and communication technologies (ICT) and assistive technologies.

8.      Media, regardless of its scale and coverage, should be encouraged to promote the accurate image of disability and persons with disabilities in ASEAN. 

9.      All the efforts to empower and protect women and children done by the ASEAN human rights mechanism, governments, civil society and so forth should include the needs of women and children with and affected by disabilities.

10.  International development agencies and other international/regional institutes should support the implementation of the disability policies described in the ASEAN Strategic Framework on Social Welfare, Family and Development (2011-2015).

11.  ASEAN member states, in collaboration with DPOs, CSOs, academic groups and so forth, should develop a methodology to support persons with disabilities in the affected areas by natural disasters and implement it.

Recommendations

The participants of this conference also made the following specific recommendations to ASEAN Community:

1.     Empowerment and Independent Living of Persons with Disabilities

•  ASEAN Secretariat should encourage the member states to adopt and promote the disability policies in the 2nd Strategic Framework for Social Welfare, Family and Development (2011-2015), especially those related to independent living.
•  ASEAN member states should implement the 2nd Strategic Framework for Social Welfare, Family and Development in order to develop the systems for community living of persons with disabilities, including personal assistance system and other supports to establish independent living centers in each country.
• ASEAN member states should recognize sign language as a language and the development of national sign language should be done by the deaf community of respective countries.
• ASEAN member states should meet and network to share good examples in policies and successful implementations.
• ASEAN member states should realize the mainstreaming of persons with disabilities into the implementation of their policies, by working closely with DPOs.
• DPOs and CSOs should collaborate to develop the human resources, especially personal assistants, to support the system for the community living of persons with disabilities.
• DPOs should network each other at ASEAN level and develop themselves to provide peer support and other necessary services.
•  DPOs should raise their voice and do advocacy and lobby government for the rights of persons with disabilities.

2.      Inclusive Social Development

•  Persons with disabilities have human rights and equal rights like others, including the right to education as stipulated further in the CRPD;
• Increased and continued support should be given to the inclusive education. Furthermore, special education should also be provided for the children with the special needs.
• A good networking among DPOs at the grass root level of ASEAN member countries should be made and encouraged.
• Support should be given to the existing government policy on the inclusive education. Further advocacy is needed to promote more understanding and awareness on the importance of inclusive education.
• Awareness-raising should be conducted among various element of the community, including among the parliament members of the ASEAN countries, the parents, families, teachers and other members of community.
• The involvement and advancement of persons with disabilities are crucial in achieving the vision of ASEAN 2015.
•  In this regard, ASEAN Secretariat should encourage the member states to adopt and promote the disability policies in the 2nd Strategic Framework for Social Welfare, Family and Development (2011 – 2015), especially those related to inclusive social development.
• ASEAN member states should develop the system, including inclusive education system, to implement the 2nd Strategic Framework for Social Welfare, Family and Development (2011-2015) to realize the mainstreaming of persons with disabilities in social development.

3.      Accessible ICT/Assistive Technologies and Media

•  In order to exercise more independent and quality life on an equal basis with others, persons with disabilities should have access to assistive devices which meet the needs of their disabilities. Those assistive devices should be distributed in affordable price for any persons with disabilities.
•  In terms of “accessible ICT”, the ones who have the biggest challenges are persons with visual impairment. In order to get access to ICT, persons with visual impairment need screen reader software.  However, it is the fact that advanced screen reader software produced by commercial companies is not affordable for such persons living in developing countries.
• Therefore, efforts should be made to lower the price of the software through research and development.  Beside that, the development of “open source software” would also be encouraged as the best solution to cope with this challenge.
•  Efforts to make assistive devices more affordable for persons with disabilities should involve multi-stakeholders, including government, university, research agencies, DPOs as a pressure group and a service provider, business sector, mass media and so forth.
• In order to make ICT more accessible for all, “web accessibility” should be promoted and implemented; and this concept should be supported by government policy.
• For persons with hearing impairment and/or the deaf, the usage of ICT that combines audio, visual and text is very helpful to take part in the mainstreamed communication.  As well, there is a need to add sign language interpretation on the TV screen in order to make available information more accessible for the deaf.
• Mass media should have strategic roles to promote and mainstream disability issues within the community.  Therefore, DPOs should involve mass media/journalist in the disability movement in ASEAN.
• DPOs should work closely with media practitioners in the development, implementation and monitoring of “the media guidelines on reporting on disability and persons with disabilities”.
• In order to make mass media publicize disability issues in more accurate way, DPOs should develop strategies how to develop long term relationship with mass media and journalists as well.  This strategy should include selection of the target, training of journalists to be more sensitive toward disability issues, approaching and attracting mass media & their journalists productively and learning how mass media work in society.

4.      Human Rights Mechanism and Disability

• The remaining 6 ASEAN member states should be encouraged to ratify the CRPD and implement it.
• DPOs need to build the capacity on ASEAN human rights mechanism such as AICHR and to use AICHR as regional mechanism in order to mainstream disability in human rights perspectives.  
• Disability should be a part of the five-year plan of AICHR and the priority issue in its 2012’s work plan.
• AICHR should be encouraged to request information to ASEAN member states on the situation on the promotion and protection of persons with disabilities.
• DPOs are encouraged to contribute to the current discussion on Corporate Social Responsibility and Human Rights that is AICHR’s priority issue of 2010 and on Migrant and Asylum Seekers for 2011.
• DPO network in this region should be strengthened and work with CSOs to bring disability issues into the mainstream of ASEAN Human Rights mechanism. 
• The 2nd ASEAN Disability Forum should be organized again and Human Rights and Disability workshop should be organized to educate participants on AICHR.

5.      Women and Children with Disabilities

• The promotion and protection of the rights of women and children with and affected by disabilities is necessary. (gender equality)
• Women and children with and affected by disabilities should be protected from abuse, exploitation and violence. (sexuality, reproductive health and rights)
• Other women and children movements should include issues of women and children with and affected by disabilities.
• DPOs should include children with and affected by disabilities in their movement. (visibility in the movement)
• Approaches of the Convention on the Rights of Child (CRC) and child perspectives should be incorporated in the work of those both with direct and indirect contact with children.
• Capacity building focusing on understanding and implementing CRC and human rights should be promoted at local, national and regional levels.
•  Participation and empowerment of women with disabilities in society through recreation, leisure and sports should be promoted.
•  ACWC should adopt the rights of persons with disabilities as one of the priority areas in its 2011-2013’s work plan.

6.      Situation of Persons with Disabilities in Natural Disaster

• ASEAN member states should mainstream disability issues in disaster management policy at regional, national and community levels.
• Persons with disabilities, regardless of types of disability, should be mainstreamed in the stage of preparedness, immediate respond, rehabilitation, reconstruction and development.
• In the preparedness stage, ASEAN member states should provide information on natural disasters in accessible formats covering persons with all types of disabilities.  Information tool may be delivered in digital format and audio/visual format and through human resources.
• In case of evacuation or rescue, the authority should provide disability-related needs, such as accessible shelter for the refugees with disabilities, sanitation and food
•  In the rehabilitation and reconstruction stages, persons with disabilities should have important roles as peer supporter and also as advocate.  DPOs also should be involved in the mainstream of the process to effectively cope with the problems.
• Training program for cadres in disaster management should be made disability sensitive one.