Disability Buzz
Shrinking the Digital Divide in the Americas
Among recent initiatives to address the digital divide in this region was a national seminar in Brazil in May on "Digital Inclusion," summarized in this issue of Disability World. Rosangela B. Bieler reports that the seminar began as an examination of all segments of society impoverished by the divide and after some persuasive interventions by a small team of disability advocates, concluded with resounding support for the principles of universal design.
To the North, U.S. President Bush put the media spotlight in June on the country's leading Assistive Technology Center operated by the Department of Defense under the leadership of Dinah Cohen. He visited the Washington based center and tried out some of the applications to draw attention to the urgency of implementing "508," the requirement that federal purchases of information technology now be accessible to people with disabilities. Deborah Kaplan, Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability, was in Sweden in late June to brief governmental and non-governmental technology and disability specialists on the importance of the new regulation.
A new Connectivity Institute for the Americas was announced by the Prime Minister of Canada, Jean Chretien in April, a project to be administered by the International Development Research Center. The Institute will promote a social vision for the Internet in Latin America and details are available on the web at www.idrc/canada/reports/.
No Consensus Yet on UN Special Session on Children
June Preparatory meetings for the September UN special session on children broke down around verbiage for the final outcome document. The New York meetings, meant to lay the groundwork for this 10 year review of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, will have to reconvene in late July or August to develop compromise language about reproductive health, groups most affected by AIDS and other issues dividing the drafters.
There was little mention of disability at the June meetings, with the exception of a new group of disabled parents, a small delegation sponsored by the United World Colleges. Disabled parents from Australia, Canada, China and Denmark drafted an amendment to the outcome document, calling for moral and financial support for parents with disabilities. One of the group's main points was, "Families should be kept intact at all times and children should only be taken away from disabled parents in the case of extreme situations, like psychological, sexual or economical abuse." Details on the web: www.ngosatunicef.org/volume2newsletter4article8.html
International Information Technology Groups Meet at RESNA
At the late June conference of the Rehab and Assistive Technology Society of North America held in Reno, Dr. Katherine Seelman chaired a lively international committee meeting of leading international IT groups. Representatives of the following groups participated in discussions about formal and informal collaboration: the AAATE (Europe), ARATA (Australia), RESJA (Japan), RESNA and the RI/ICTA Commission. An article in this issue of Disability World lists recent publications of these groups, as well as their full names!
Critiques of Dutch Euthanasia Law & American Genetics Practice
Laura Hershey, new Disability World reporter, finds it puzzling that while North American and European disability groups are concerned about Holland's recent legalization of euthanasia, it seems the Dutch disability groups are silent on this issue. Check out her provocative article . . . U.K. disability rights campaigners are calling for new laws to prevent companies from using the genetic history of employees to discriminate in the workplace.
A June 16 report in The Scotsman quoted Disability Rights Commission spokesperson Lindsey Davey: "The law has to be tightened up in Britain so there's no opportunity for discrimination. What we don't want to follow is the American model." Details: www.scotsman.co.uk/uk.cfm?id=82003&keyword=disability
Apologies All Around? Not Yet . . .
A Disability World article by Kay Schriner reports on the Japanese government's recent decision to provide a financial settlement and an official apology to hundreds of its citizens who were restricted to hospitals for most of their lives because of their infection with leprosy. The apology was offered in recognition that the imprisonment continued long after it was public knowledge that the treatment they had received eliminated any possible justification for isolation.
The leading professional association of German scientists has recently apologized publicly for its part in and support of the Holocaust, prominently citing the heinous beginnings of the program, the forced asylum and murder of children and adults with disabilities. Not so interested in public apologies, it seems are: 1) the Catholic Church in Canada, which maintains it has no responsibility for designating orphans and other young charges as "disabled" in order to qualify for higher per capita payments for their care throughout the 50's and 60's; and 2) some of the wealthier governments involved in planning this year's magna UN Conference on Racism. We hear that the breakdown in negotiations about whether apologies for racism will be issued is based on apprehension on the part of some governments that admittance of guilt will lead to demands for reparations.
Finally, don't miss the Disability World stories about the Human Rights Rally that attracted 1500 Costa Rican disability advocates; and the new acsexable brothel in Australia.
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