IDEAS Project Sponsors Governance session in Oslo

A session exploring the impact of disabled politicians and disability policy bodies will be held as part of the RI World Congress in Oslo, Norway, June 21--24. The session is being organized as an activity of the International Disability Exchanges and Studies (IDEAS) project for the New Millennium, administered by the World Institute on Disability (WID).

The session, to take place on June 22, will feature the following speakers: Judith Heumann of the World Bank, discussing the impact of disabled political appointees during the Clinton Administration; Bengt Lindqvist, Europe's first blind Cabinent Minister, reflecting on influences on Swedish disability policy over the last two decades; Florence Nayiga Sekabia, Uganda's Minister for Disability and Aging, evaulting the impact of the new Ugandan system requiring 5 disabled Members of Parliament; Lars Odegaard, Norway's first wheelchair-using Member of Parliament, will analyze influences on disability policy in Norway; and Kathleen Martinez, presidentially appointed Member of the U.S. National Council on Disability, will discuss the impact of the NCD on disability policy in that country.

IDEAS project & governance
Governance is one of the main topics of the IDEAS project and of the online magazine of the project, www.DisabilityWorld. Since the project went online in 2000, various national reports have been published on the activities and impacts of disabled politicians, national disability policy bodies and improving access to  democracy, especially progress in making elections, polling places and related information more accessible.

In October 2003, the first international symposium on disability & governance was held by the IDEAS project as part of the RI African Conference, held in Durban, South Africa. In addition, IDEAS project reporters are conducting interviews with disabled politicians worldwide. The interviews and the papers from Durban and Oslo sessions, together with a trends analysis,  will be published later this year as the Final Report of the IDEAS project on the governance topic. Details: Kathy Martinez via email: kathy@wid.org

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