- There are about 140 million disabled children in the world.
- 97% of disabled children in poor countries have no rehabilitation.
- 98% are without education.
- 90% of disabled children will not
survive beyond the age of five.
This horrible list of statistics about disabled children opened the Thematic Day of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child on 6 October. Last year they discussed children and the media. In other years they have considered street children and child labour. This year, at last, they turned their attention to the worst situation of all - disabled children.
In the imposing buildings of the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva, Switzerland, the important members of the Committee on the Rights of the Child looked at the right of disabled children to life, development, inclusion and self-representation.
This time there were people there who were directly effected. There were two of us who had been disabled children; there were parents of disabled children; and, for the first time ever, at such a meeting there were two young girls from South Africa who spoke about their own experiences.
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Pearl, deafened by rioting in Soweto, spoke of her loneliness and isolation from her hearing friends.
Chantal told how she and her family had had to move from their home to the city so that she could get medical support, crutches and an education.
They had both experienced the stigma that is attached to disabled children and their families. They had experienced the poverty and difficulties in just trying to lead an ordinary life. And they both knew that, in their country, they were the lucky ones. Family members spoke with passion about the stigma and fear which give society the excuse to support eugenic laws of abortion and sterilisation.
We all spoke about the huge numbers of disabled children who are abused and abandoned, whose rights to life and inclusion are violated on a massive scale.
This time we were listened to. The Committee were undoubtedly moved by what was said and gave an undertaking to set up a working group, which will include representatives of the international disability organisations, to make sure that the Committee monitors what countries are doing for disabled children when they do their regular work of looking at member states' reports on their implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
They stressed that all articles of the Convention impact on disabled children and must be monitored accordingly. They have issued a statement which says quite clearly that the violation of the right to life was the worst discrimination and abuse faced by anyone. Their statement calls for governmental and legal action. But above all they called for an end to the stigma and a celebration of diversity.
The unique voices of Pearl and Chantal undoubtedly made a difference. It is up to the rest of us to ensure that our governments take action, that these horrifying statistics are reversed and that disabled children take their rightful place within their families and their communities.
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This resolution was passed on 23 October by the UN 3rd Committee meeting on Social Development, in New York, USA.
The initial draft of the resolution was written by DPI representatives to stimulate action on the United Nations Standard Rules and the work of the Special Rapporteur and the Group of Experts, and to make governments aware of the forthcoming DPI 5th World Assembly, to be held in Mexico City, 1-7 December 1998 (more on the Assembly in next month's issue).
The resolution represents a huge success for the work of DPI at the United Nations. It is not customary for UN Resolutions to make reference to any NGO in particular, or any of their activities. Resolution A/C/52/L. 12 can now to used as an instrument to promote the World Assembly and request financial support at country and regional levels.
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The Resolution ''notes with appreciation the valuable work undertaken by the Special Rapporteur on Disability of the Commission for Social Development and welcomes the second round of monitoring the implementation of the Standard Rules ... and the cooperation of the Special Rapporteur with the Commission on Human Rights, especially with the Committee on the Rights of the Child.''
The Resolution encourages governments and the NGO community to examine key social and economic policy issues related to equalisation of opportunities, in particular accessibility, social services and social safety nets, and employment and sustainable livelihoods.
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Four years ago, Au AI-Madboh, a young disabled man, used to sit at the window of the first-floor home he hardly ever left, watching disabled activists from the Lebanese Sitting Handicapped Association. They were knocking on doors to find out about disabled people in the area.
He had to wait but eventually they found him and he is now an active member of the Association's local centre at Ali AI-Nahri in the Bekaa Valley. Ali has learned to read and write. Now he works to find and free other disabled people in the area from isolation and neglect. The NGO -run by disabled people - has changed his life.
Disability non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Lebanon were actively involved in emergency relief services and peace work during the years of conflict and are still performing a vital role for the country's disabled people. They are offering services, lobbying government and providing an example of non-sectarian cooperation and democratic structures. They are bringing a sense of responsibility, self-esteem and group identity to a section of the population of a country also seeking new ways to define itself.
I was lucky enough to be able to visit Lebanon at the beginning of October, on a study exchange organised by The Thomson Foundation in the United Kingdom and funded by the European Commission. I saw some excellent work being done by disability organisations.
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In Lebanon, disabled children often cannot go to school. Teachers know little about disability. Many disabled people stay at home without support for themselves or their families. Adults are often at the margins of society, beggars, in prison or psychiatric institutions. Very few are employed, most live in conditions of terrible poverty and experience isolation and discrimination
Disabled people are stereotyped as helpless and incompetent individuals. There is little acknowledgement of disability as a human rights issue or of the benefits, to the individual and to society, of the empowerment of disabled people.
The Arab-Israeli war and the civil war left 250,000 dead and 400,000 injured. War destroyed the country's infrastructure, paralysed public and private sectors and brought misery and fear, particularly to the steadily increasing numbers of disabled people who were unable to move around the country and out of danger easily.
Dr. Charafeddine Moussa, Vice-President of Inclusion International, explains that disabled people were traditionally treated as mad and incapable by the authorities. They were not considered fit to give witness, marry, sell, buy or inherit. From 1973, bylaw 11/93 established disabled people's inability to work. In 1993, legislative decree 243 modified 11/93 in relation to disability but employment remains an unrealised goal for most disabled people. Dr. Moussa points out that the Government's priority is regeneration. ''There are no resources for social problems.''
The Government will pay towards life in an institution but not for independent living. The choice is stark. Dr. Moussa estimated that between 5 and 10 per cent of disabled people get appropriate services. Up to 90 per cent may be without any services at all.
Life outside the institutions is severely limited too - by poverty, lack of access and opportunity. Things are certainly bad in the Bekaa Valley, the rural area where Ali lives. The Bekaa covers 43 per cent of Lebanon's land mass but attracts little of the resources devoted to reconstruction. There is still polio here. Many disabled people go hungry; most are not educated and do not work. Some never leave their homes and have little contact with the community.
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As for the Palestinian refugees, they live in a situation of desperate poverty, of negligible access and extra health problems: the danger of pressure sores for disabled people, for example, is increased - often fatally - in the insanitary conditions of the camps. There are restrictions on employment and no welfare other than that provided by NGOs. These NGOs have started to provide the equivalent of the Lebanese disability identity card, to try to establish the numbers and the needs of Palestinian disabled refugees.
''The state is absent in Lebanon,'' says Nada Azzaz, a blind woman who is one of the founders of the Friends of the Handicapped organisation in Tripoli. ''Everything the state should do is done by individual initiative. The Lebanese law explicitly discriminates against disabled people. The law states that no one can be employed by the Government who is not physically fit and 'free from deformities and defects'''.
The Lebanese Parliament's Subcommittee on Children's Rights - set up six years ago and chaired by one of the three female parliamentarians - is forcing action, however. It has introduced a law making premarital health checks obligatory (''to save children from hereditary diseases''), increased the minimal working age from 8 to 13 and removed the term ''illegitimate'' from identification cards. The first of these changes could further undermine the limited rights of disabled people (marriage is essentially barred between those deemed reproductively incompatible); however, much of the work of the Subcommittee is clearly vitally important in establishing basic rights.
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Under a political system based on family, religious and sectarian considerations and in the absence of secular parties which have clear programmes, it is difficult for any group, including of women or disabled people, which has not traditionally held power to play a leading role in public life.
Local elections have not been held in Lebanon since 1963 and the cabinet withdrew from Parliament a bill governing these polls earlier this year. It said reconsideration to enhance the balance between religious communities was necessary. There is pressure on the Cabinet from inside and outside Parliament to hold them as soon as possible. Some organisations of disabled people are actively involved in this campaign.
It is only the NGOs who are concerned with social change in the disability field. There are big institutions with wealthy patronesses and religious/political connections, but they do not necessarily believe in the empowerment of disabled people or major change to disabled people's status in society.
The traditional attitude of religious groups can mean that disabled people are effectively taken into custody, proving the charitable credentials of patrons and warders of institutions but confining disabled people to limited lives.
After the war, many international NGOs left Lebanon, with the idea that public services would be re-established. I found considerable cynicism on this point. Some believe that the existence of new, big, privately-funded charitable institutions is delaying recovery and allowing government institutions to remain absent. This echoes the wider feeling that private interest prevails where public service priorities should be paramount; that companies run by officials are benefiting financially from doing the work of ministries.
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I visited a variety of organisations supporting disabled people. Some were service-providers; others lobbyists; most combined both aspects of disability work. These included Friends of the Handicapped in Tripoli, Arc en Ciel and Contact and Resource Centre in Beirut, the Lebanese Sitting Handicapped Association in the Bekaa, and my hosts, NARD - the National Association for the Rights of Disabled People. NARD aims to ensure that disability is on the national agenda, that disabled people achieve their rights, and that they are involved in all major decisions affecting them and in the reconstruction of civil society.
NARD produces a quarterly Arabic journal, Echoes of Disabled People which is read throughout the Middle East. Its negotiations with the Lebanese Government led to the modification of the restrictive 1973 law. NARD was formed after the 'Marches for Peace' in Lebanon in 1985 and 1987 when 200 disabled people and allies crisscrossed the country's battle lines in an attempt to promote reconciliation. It organised the International March of Disabled People (''peace and human rights for all'') to the former Republic of Yugoslavia, which took place between 28 June and 3 July 1993. NARD has established a major resource and information centre on disability in Lebanon and the Middle East.
I would like to record my particular thanks to Abdullah Itani, Jahda Abou Khalil, Dr. Nawaf Kabbara, Dr. Moussa, Sylvana Lakkis, Val Williams and everyone else at The Thomson Foundation and at NARD who made my trip so interesting.
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The world was shocked by recent news of a skeleton in Sweden s closet - the country's forced sterilisation policy for disabled people and others considered unworthy to have children.
The facts are clear; there is no reason to question the authenticity of the sterilisation records. Sources other than Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's largest daily newspaper which began discussion on sterilisation, as well as researchers are confirming the facts. Sweden is famous for its comprehensive statistics and all sterilisation records and ''patient'' journals are archived and available to researchers and journalists. People who were sterilised against their will have ended the silence and appeared in the media.
The sterilisations were fully legal according to the laws of the time. There were well-developed and state-regulated routines, with medical experts at local and national level, within the Ministry of Health and Welfare. A panel of highly placed representatives of political parties (mainly female Social Democrats, including an ambassador to the United Nations) signed away one of the most basic human rights - the right to have children - for tens of thousands of people.
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Their motives? Discussion and practice of eugenics, the effort to ''improve'' a nation's genetic material, started shortly after the turn of the century. In recent years, scientific advances are improving the means to detect ''subnormal'' embryos as candidates for legal abortion and have opened up the possibility of genetic manipulation. In short, the tendency to value quality of life as measured in biological terms is still very much alive and on the increase throughout the west.
From 1918 to 1945 there was an additional factor that favoured the ''bioligistic'' outlook on life: racism and nationalism. These ideologies received the greatest support during the fascist regimes in Germany, Italy, Spain and Japan. But fascism as an ideological movement was influential in many other countries. It is an established fact that Sweden and other Nordic countries had friendly relations with Nazi Germany up until, and in some cases even after, the outbreak of the Second World War. Many of the racist theories and policies of Hitler's Germany were also popular in Sweden. For example, it was at the request of Swedish immigration authorities that Germany stamped the letter ''J'' for Jew in passports.
Some historians claim that the Swedish Medical Association lobbied for a reduction of Jewish immigration fearing competition from the influx of the many professionals, including doctors.
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By the 1920s, Sweden had established the State Institute for Race Biology, which operated until the 1950s.
Along with other institutions, party ideologists and leading politicians, it formulated the sterilisation programmes in an attempt to improve the nation's genetic heritage by insuring that citizens who were considered to be ''insufficient'', ''imbecile'', ''deviant'' and ''a burden to society'' did not reproduce. The legal base to this practice was passed by Parliament in democratic fashion.
While eugenic motives played a role in the sterilisations, economic aspects were also important. When child allowances - monthly payments to families for each child, administered by the tax-funded national social insurance scheme - were introduced in the I 950s, the number of forced sterilisations of ''undesirable'' members of the population doubled.
The Swedish concept of ''the people's home'', the folkhem, formulated in the 1930s and the most influential vision in Swedish politics, was based on the ideal of a closely knit, homogenous society - similar to a family - where all members would support each other. Each one would contribute according to their abilities and would receive according to their needs. The folkhem was to become the foundation of decades of peaceful labour relations, far-reaching social reforms and unprecedented economic growth.
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The dark side to the folkhem concept was the harsh demand for conformity. People who did not correspond to the ideal of this new society were not welcome. For example, a recent newspaper article reported the case of a girl in her late teens who in the late I 940s was sterilised against her will. The justification given in her journal was the comment that she had often been seen hanging around the town's dancing hall.
Another reason why these ''legal'' human rights violations were tolerated and supported by so many for so long was probably the absence of a court to investigate the constitutionality of new laws. Sweden has never had a revolution and the state and its administration have enjoyed a trust that many foreign observers find astounding.
There was no perceived need for an elaborate system of checks and balances as in other countries. Thus, in a country with a relative homogenous population, without separation of State and Church, with strong traditions of collectivism and consensus, majority rule in Parliament has been considered a sufficient guarantee to passing laws in the nation's best interest.
In September and October, European newspapers carried accounts of forced sterilisation in other countries, such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, Austria and Belgium. But the fact that more people were sterilised, on a per capita basis, in Sweden than in other countries is hard to understand within the country and abroad. Perhaps it has to do with the image that Swedes have of their country: the peaceful, neutral nation; unafraid to point out violations of human rights in other parts of the world; a country of advanced social reforms, where citizens enjoy a high and guaranteed level of public services in education, health and social welfare.
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During the last decade, Sweden has been changing. When Prime Minister Olof Palme was murdered in the street, the nation was shocked as probably never before. Such a crime had been unimaginable in their country. Since then, Sweden has changed to such a degree that many older people say they no longer recognise their country. Increasing globalisation of the economy, the entrance requirements to European Monetary Union and a long recession have forced the Government to carry out painful cuts in tax-funded programmes in order to reduce public spending to the level of other OECD countries to improve the country s competitive standing.
Soon, Sweden's social policy will not materially differ from that of other European countries. Soon, Sweden will not be what it used to be. Perhaps the forced sterilisation disclosure gives us reasons to doubt whether that country ever really existed.
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A vitamin supplement manufactured in Britain is being exported to Uganda, where it is being sold as a cure for AIDS - at the cost of a year's salary for three months supply. There is absolutely no evidence that it has any effect.
The supplement, called Mariandina, is a combination of vitamins, herbal extracts and micro-nutrients, and is shortly to be advertised on the Internet, making it available around the world.
It is sold by Professor Charles Ssali, a UK-trained doctor and fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh who runs an AIDS clinic in Kampala. Ssali claims that the supplement can cure AIDS in the same way that oranges cured scurvy in the 18th century.
The World Health Organisation is investigating ways of controlling illegal advertising of medicines on the Internet. Independent on Sunday, 27 July 1997.
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Ali Baquer writes from India:
Greetings from Concerned Action Now. We are a registered NQO working for the last 14 years in the disability field.
CAN has been advocating for the rights and dignity of people who are disadvantaged in society because they do not conform to the ideal of what society sees as normal. We are committed to disseminating information on disability-related issues and to gathering information on ways to implement policies effectively.
CAN played a leading role in getting the Indian disability law enacted. Keeping in mind the need to educate the public and policy-makers, CAN has recently published a book entitled Disability: Challenges Vs. Responses by Ali Baquer and Anjali Sharma. Information on the Indian disability law has been included in the publication.
Contact: Ali Baquer, CAN, BIII & IV, 3067, Aruna Asat Ali Marg, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, 110070, India.
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The Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of the ARI has outlined a set of priorities that emphasise empowerment of disabled people.
The ARI is an inter-governmental organisation created by the Organisation of African Unity, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and the International Labour Organisation, with the aim of helping member states with prevention of impairment, provision of rehabilitation services, research and empowerment of disabled people.
The TAC is made up of representatives from 21 national and international organisations. It agreed the following priorities for the Institute earlier in the year:
- Collaboration between the ARI and other organisations should be increased. The Institute and its partners should work at national, regional and international levels to secure political commitment and funding for disability issues.
- Equalisation of opportunities should be emphasised in programmes for disabled people.
- Funding for research should be increased.
- A database should be set up to provide information, education and communication on disability issues.
- Disabled people should be represented by independent national boards or councils that have direct access to the highest level of government - president, prime minister, parliament or cabinet - rather than being placed under a single ministry or department.
-The mandate of the ARI should be revised in light of the national and international movement towards empowerment of disabled people.
- The ARI should support the implementation of the UN Standard Rules; member countries should be urged to protect the rights of disabled people through legislation; disability organisations should be encouraged.
- The ARI should promote community-based rehabilitation programmes and training programmes should be based in Africa.
From WFD News.
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From the Paraplegics Association of Greece:
''The Paraplegics Association of Greece, according to the goals it has set itself for solving the problems facing Greece's disabled people, visited the Minister of Health and Welfare on 29 September. During the discussions, the Association met the Minister, Mr. Gitonas.
Because none of our requests had been satisfied, we decided to occupy the Minister's offices in the Ministry building.
Long-term negotiations followed in a pleasant atmosphere with a spirit of good will on both sides. At midnight, during our last contact with various ministers, general and under-secretaries and members from the board of the National Confederation of Disabled People, we decided to temporarily suspend our action, to give time for the Minister to study the political implications of our requests. At that moment, the Undersecretary of Welfare Facilities, Mr. Kotson is, appeared - who had not been a part of any previous talks.
From the beginning of the new discussion, Mr. Kotsonis was very aggressive, provocative and hostile, in contrast to the other members of the political leadership. Suddenly and unacceptably, for a member of a socialist Government which supposedly honours human rights, he began to be very offensive, calling members of the Association 'stupid', 'fool', 'losers', etc.
This unpredictable and fascist behaviour reminds us of dictatorial periods in the history of humanity. We strongly believe that in a Ministry such as Health and Welfare Facilities which has as its main objective the help and support of sensitive social groups, people like Mr. Kotsonis have no place.''
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Harunar Rashid Khan, Bangladesh National Federation of the Deaf writes to DAA:
Deaf education began in Bangladesh at the end of the last century. The first school for the deaf was established in Dhaka in 1914. Former students organised their own society, the East Bengal Deaf and Dumb Association in 1940. After 1947 and the creation of Pakistan, the association and the school were abolished and the mostly Hindu social workers left for India.
There were still a few local deaf associations and these eventually became the Bangladesh National Federation of the Deaf in 1963. It aims to provide education and vocational training.
The Federation is the only voluntary organisation in the country trying to help the one million deaf people. The magnitude of the problem means that it is not possible for the government of a developing country like Bangladesh or a voluntary organisation alone to tackle it.
The Federation would like to see the following policy in place:
- reservation of 10 per cent of Government jobs for deaf people
- 50 per cent fare concession on Government, private and other transport
- deaf people allowed a driving licence
- Sign language interpretation on TV news programmes and special announcements, and in all other functions, such as meetings
- deaf people should be included in the provisions and measures undertaken for
- people with intellectual impairments or learning difficulties
- expertise in employment opportunities should be developed
- a law should be passed to protect, promote and safeguard the interests of disabled people
- deaf and non-deaf people should both be able to be social workers.
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Membership is open to users and ex-users of mental health services; others can become associate members. Contact: Sean Crudden, Secretary, IMPERO, Jenkinstown, Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. Tel: +42 713 10. SEQUENS,
A network of groups and individuals in every continent working for and supporting reproductive rights for women.
They define reproductive rights as women s right to decide whether, when and how to have children - regardless of nationality, class, ethnicity, race, age, religion, disability, sexuality or marital status - in the social, economic and political conditions that make such decisions possible.
NZ Voorburgwal 32, 1012 RZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 20 620 96 72. Fax: +31 20 622 24 50.
The Centre produces a newsletter, Impresso, in Portuguese and has its own website.
Contact: Centro de Vida Independente do Rio de Janeiro (CVIRJ), Rua Marques de S?o Vicente 225 - Estacionamento da PUC - G?vea, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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A 12-minute montage of disabled women s issues from around the world - as well as a glimpse of the 1995 NGO Forum / UN Conference on Women in Beijing and the first international symposium on disabled women's issues from disabled women's perspectives.
By the people at Project PROJIMO - the CBR centre in rural western Mexico - and available in English and Spanish.
Both the above from: Suzanne Levine, Wide Vision Productions, Visualizing Social Issues through Media, P0 Box 22115, San Francisco, CA94122-0115,USA.Voice:+l 4153870617. Fax: +14153870583.
The Network, based in New South Wales, Australia, has published its first newsletter. Called Solutions, it aims to provide information on challenging behaviour and to be a focal point for people looking for answers. Contributions and suggestions are welcome.
Contact Behavioural Support Network, do NSW Council for Intellectual Disability, Suite 3, 3rd Floor, 22-36 Mountain Street, Broadway, NSW 2007, Australia.
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PROJIMO needs Windows-capable computers and leather, wood and metal-working tools, as well as short-term instructors to help the local programme facilitators develop a new skills-training programme.
Contact: PROJIMO, c/o HealthWrights, P0 Box 1344, Palo Alto, CA 94302, USA. Website: http://www.healthwrights.org
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Despite the attitudes and programmes highlighted by Adolf Razka on page five, many disabled people reproduce successfully and happily and gain much joy from being parents.
The experiences of two Deaf women as new mothers are described in the September 1997 issue of WFD News:
''As Deaf parents of a hearing child, we have often been asked how our child will learn to speak. In fact, I am proud to say that our daughter will be trilingual, learning Australian sign language from us and our Deaf friends, Czech from her maternal grandparents and their friends, and English from her paternal grandparents, relatives and friends ... I am truly proud to be a Deaf mother, and I will do everything in my power to keep my daughter from feeling in any way disadvantaged or deprived of a hearing upbringing. I know that we will endure trials and tribulations throughout Mikaela's life but with love, understanding and tolerance we will overcome them. My husband and I are excited to be the Deaf parents of a hearing child, as so many Deaf parents with hearing children have been before us all over the world.'' Jitka Navratil, Australia.
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''I am the Deaf parent of two children. It has been a wonderful experience to become a mother, even though many people thought that I would not be able to have a loving relationship with my children or look after them properly.
Some people were not disturbed that I was a Deaf mother, but others felt that Pamela should be taken to her grandmother so that she could learn how to talk. Because I am Deaf, they feared I would influence her not to talk. When she was 10 months old, Pamela started to sign.
We communicate normally, just as any hearing mother communicates with her children. At the moment, we can sing, laugh and have fun. Every evening we teach our daughter how to read and write and she demonstrates to us what she has learned at school. During consultation day I was informed that she is one of the best in her class. How proud I am to be her mother!
In our culture, if you have children people respect you a lot. The more children you have, the more respected and richer you are. Some people show respect by addressing me by my daughter's name, as ''mother of Pamela''. Others see me as a Deaf person first, not as a mother.'' Euphrasia Mbewe, Zimbabwe.
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As both these women found during their pregnancies, Deaf people are frequently deprived of their right to equal access to health care because clinics refuse to provide interpreters. Local and national association of the Deaf may have lists of doctors or clinics that provide interpreting services.
Some general information is available on the world wide web.
Part of Gallaudet Unversity, the Center has a resource list of health care programmes for Deaf clients in the US and other countries. It includes providers and interpreter services.
National Information Center on Deafness, Gallaudet University, 800 Florida Avenue, NE, Washington DC 20002-3695, USA. Tel: + I 202 651 5051 (voice). Tel:+l 202651 5052 (voice). Fax: + I 202 651 5054.
A Belgium website in French, providing articles on health care for the Deaf and links to related sites in English and French.
Not a Deaf website but online information on breast-feeding and links to other sites.
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Contact: Jack R. Olson, Department of Psychology, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT 59717-0344, USA. Tel: +1 406 994 3801. Fax: +1 406 994 3804.
Theme: Diversity and Unity
Contact: Breda Carty, WFD Congress Secretariat P0 Box 4044, St. Lucia South Queensland 4067,Australia. Tel: +61 73870 8831.TextTel:+61 73870 8837.Fax:+61 73371 9514.
Contact: HoH Congress Secretariat GPO Box 128, Sydney, NSW 2001, Australia. Tel: +61 2 9262 2277. Fax: +61 29262 3135.
The Assembly is being organised in cooperation with the Government of Mexico and national non-governmental organisations.
Further information about theme, draft programme, possible hotels and transportation details in a future issue of DAA.
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In last month's newsletter, we reported on progress towards a worldwide ban on landmines.
Since then, the Nobel peace prize has been awarded to those active in the international campaign against landmines. Tim Carstairs of the Mines Advisory Group in Britain, and previously coordinator of the UK Working Group on Landmines of which DAA is a member, said of the award: ''We are obviously very, very honoured. We would like to dedicate this to the victims of landmines and to the media and the public worldwide.''
Pressure to limit or ban the use of anti-personnel mines has been growing since the early 1990s but it is only in the past two years that the campaign has really taken off. The Ottawa process culminated in an agreement between 90 countries in Oslo last month which was hailed as a ''victory for humanity''. In addition, the announcement by Boris Yeltsin on 10 October that Russia would work towards a ban has been seen as a major advance.
There are an estimated 100 million mines laid in more than 60 countries.
4-6 million are thought to have been laid during the Bosnian war.
For every mine cleared, 25 are laid and total clearance is almost impossible.
500 people a week are still dying.
DAA wants you to collect petitions in support of the ban.
Send these to your government - either to the president or prime minister or to the foreign affairs ministry.
If you don't know where to send them, post them to us (this will be more expensive for you).
REMEMBER, every signature counts.
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