AICHR Shepherding Establishment of Regional Action Plan for PWDs
14 November 2017 - The ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), together with the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development, has convened the third Task Force Meeting on Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disability in the ASEAN Community, which is trying to come up with a Regional Action Plan (RAP) for PWDs.
During its third meeting held in Phuket, Thailand on 22-23 June 2017, the Task Force came up with a zero draft of a RAP entitled ASEAN Enabling Masterplan 2025 on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Statistics Division of the ASEAN Secretariat briefed the Task Force on the importance of gathering disaggregated data to be able to craft policies to assist persons with disabilities more effectively. The Task Force also met with a representative from the ASEAN Disability Forum, which emphasized the need for comprehensive representation for disabled peoples’ organizations and the importance of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism for the RAP.
Before the Task Force meeting, AICHR organized the 3rd Regional Dialogue on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community on 19-21 June 2017. Participants discussed access to justice, entrepreneurial enterprises, and disaster management concerning PWDs. The next Regional Dialogue in 2018 will discuss assistive technologies for PWDs. END