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MEMOIRS OF THE XIV WORLD CONGRESS OF II-BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE FUTURE -Towards a global agenda for action.
[Last updated Tuesday, February 20, 2007]
On the website for the memoirs of the Congress you will find the presentations for the conferences that took place during this important event, in which more than 180 speakers participated. The presentations are shown only in their original version (English or Spanish) http://www.cibercreaciones.com/memorias-inclusion-mexico2006/index2%20english.html
World Congress calls on the world to “Hear Our Voices” and sets the course for the Future By Connie Laurin-Bowie
Over 1400 people from over 57 countries came together in Acapulco at the 14 the World Congress of Inclusion International to call on the world to confront the poverty and exclusion faced by people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Families, self-advocates, experts and governments joined together to examine the challenges of globalization for building inclusive societies.
Inclusion International’s world report on poverty and disability: Hear Our Voices; People with an intellectual Disability and their Families Speak Out on Poverty and Exclusion, is the story of poverty and exclusion told by individuals and families in more than 80 countries.
President Fox of Mexico and President Torrijos of Panama opened the Congress by calling on the world to address poverty and exclusion and to build inclusive futures.
Speakers and participants from all over the world worked over three days to develop strategies to build inclusive education systems, address exclusion from the labour market, close institutions, make health care accessible and more.
Families and self-advocates identified four priority issues that require specific attention in order to address poverty: education is a key determinant of poverty for individuals and for families; the structural causes of extreme poverty (development policy that excludes the people with disabilities); policies that ignore and undermine the role that families play in promoting and supporting inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities; and exclusionary policies that separate people with intellectual disabilities from their communities in institutions.
Over the next four years, five “building blocks” for inclusion will guide the work of Inclusion International in its efforts to build a better world for all. DOWNLOAD THE WORLD REPORT ON POVERTY AND DISABILITY WATCH THE DVD
BUILDING AN INCLUSIVE FUTURE
Towards a global agenda for action By David Towell
The global meeting in Acapuclo (7 –10 November) is widely regarded an Inclusion’s best ever Congress. More than 1400 participants from across the world, the majority from countries of the South, worked together to strengthen their sense of global solidarity and build a shared agenda for global change to deliver ‘inclusion for all’.
Through the participation of the President’s from Mexico and Panama and the former President of Costa Rica, the Congress achieved high political visibility, especially in Latin America. Each of these leaders made their own positive commitment to backing the inclusion agenda. Major debates on implementation of the new UN Convention on the rights of disabled people, the need to include currently excluded groups in the global fight to ‘make poverty history’ and the strategies required to deliver inclusive education - put Inclusion International and its members at the heart of mainstream policy-making from the national to the global levels.
Most important, this Congress was the first in Inclusion’s history which aimed to involve all participants in shaping our future agenda. In the closing report to the Congress, six self-advocates from across the world and six members of the Congress ‘listening team’ summarised key proposals which had emerged from the week’s discussions and commended these to the Inclusion International Council, meeting on 12 November.
This report was organised around the five key building blocks for a global action plan.
ASPIRATIONS OF SELF-ADVOCATES AND CONGRESS VIEWS ON WAYS FORWARD
RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION AND FULL CITIZENSHIP
No more names, we are persons first
Change the attitude of society
People should know that we have abilities
Acknowledge our rights and make everybody respect them
To be empowered to speak for ourselves, everywhere, on our own issues
BY Working in partnership at all levels
Talking about rights and self-advocacy in our daily work
Making sure that human rights are respected
Developing and disseminate plain language materials
Training people to be self-advocates
ACCESS TO INCLUSIVE SERVICES
Everybody should go to the same school
Society must provide accessible information
Need for training making us eligible for work
Support for healthy living
Need for social support to get full citizenship
BY Promoting partnership of civil society and government
Developing inclusive legislation
Sharing models of excellence and good practice. Supporting training of teachers for inclusive practice
Lobbying with unions and other relevant organizations
LIVE AND PARTICIPATE IN THE COMMUNITY There should be no test for us to live in the comunuty. We control the services ourselves
Provide support to fully participate
Support to assist in decision making. Just like you do.
Institutions throughout the world must be closed BY Auditing public policies and advocating for inclusion
Strengthening and supporting Parents’ organizations
Making mainstream the rights of people with disabilities within governments agendas
Ensuring equal rights to justice
Making accessibility part of all city planning requirements
ADEQUATE INCOME AND EMPLOYMENT
Our work is valuable
Similar work conditions to other people with adjustments if necessary.
Appropriate support which meet our needs
We want to choose work that is interesting and useful
Work means friends and brings us pleasure
BY Ensuring adequate income through paid employment
Ensuring income support is non-stigmatized and non-penalized
Providing adequate vocational training
Ensuring labour laws don’t discriminate against people with disability or their families
Moving beyond quotas for employment to an open and inclusive labour market
SUPPORT FOR FAMILIES Our families need support
Our families include our brothers and sisters
They can educate others about our disability
When our family lives in poverty, we live in poverty
It is time to stop talking about poverty- we must end it forever
BY Developing training programs
Creating support networks that disseminate information and raise awareness
Understanding the power to bring changes at all levels lies within the family. Authorities only follow.
Recognizing that the collaboration between family members and professionals is essential
Looking across the five building blocks, we know we can be strong when we are
Listening to local voices
Linking the local and the global
Promoting inclusive public policy
Setting targets for progress
Providing leadership as part of wider alliances
We would like to inform everyone of the success of the congress and its message for local, national, regional and global action. Please send us your comments, news, photos or any information to info@inclusion-international.org
''The most important message for me was the messages or resolutions of the congress from the Self-advocates. They were pretty clear and straight forward. The Global report was also a very powerful message.
To ensure that the messages from the Self-advocates are brought to the attention of each local government, I have made appointments with our minister in the presidents office to bring the congress resolutions to his attention as well as the Global report.'' Vanessa dos Santos, National Chairperson Down Syndrome South Africa
'' I truly enjoyed meeting very interesting people from different parts of the world. They were self advocates, parents, brothers and sisters and teachers and professionals. But they were all advocates of a world of inclusion. We work and act in different places but we do share our vision of an inclusive community around the world.
Our region of the Asia Pacific is a very diverse and dynamic part of the world. Our challenge of forming a regional network has just begun. And that is why this is a very exciting time for us in this region. Yes, we have so much to share with each other. Information sharing with our neighbors should be our next step.'' Nagase Osamu, regional representative for the II Council
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