Asia-Pacific Report: RNN completes its mission, creates new regional forum
By Ichiro Maruyama, Secretary General, Regional NGO Network for Asia-Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (RNN)
I would like to express my hearty appreciation for your participation at the Osaka Forum ( RNN's final Campaign) last October in Osaka, which resulted in a great success due to your cooperation and support.
As you know, RNN has completed its mission, and at the same time given rise to the formation of the Asia and Pacific Disability Forum (APDF). Members of RNN at its final General Assembly unanimously endorsed the idea of establishing the APDF, which was further endorsed by participants of the Osaka Forum as one of the major recommendations of the Forum Declaration. The declaration that is the final and one of the biggest achievements of RNN was presented by both Ms. Venus Ilagan, new Chairperson of DPI, and Mr. Ryosuke Matsui, Vice President of RI, at the Closing Ceremony on October 23.
Also, at the UN ESCAP High Level Intergovernmental Meeting to review the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons in Shiga from October 25-28, the RNN representative, Mr. Eita Yashiro, referred to the key points of the Osaka Declaration and the establishment of APDF.
APDF as a succeeding network of RNN is stated in " the BIWAKO Millennium Framework (BMF) for Action " as a NGO with which governments will cooperate.
(BMF is the key document for the next decade, soon to be distributed by the UN ESCAP Secretariat.)
Because of your positive participation in RNN, a very unique network and the first of its kind in the region with membership from both national and international organizations of/for people with disabilities, it achieved its mission to increase awareness towards disability issues and to create good working relationships among relevant organizations and people in the region during the Decade.
I would like to congratulate all RNN members for your contribution to the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with disability.
Now, APDF will be expected to expand such contributions to all over the region.
APDF is conceived as a loose regional network of interested major domestic disability NGOs in respective country/area in the region and also regional organizations of international disability organizations. It will not advocate individual interests of any specific organizations, but will promote networking through organization of campaign conferences, and exchange of information and experiences for the common goal in this region. Key issues for APDF will be the promotion of the early adoption of a UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as of the new Decade 2003-2012.
The following article presents the conceptual framework for APDF that was distributed as a discussion paper at Osaka Forum.
APDF will open its website tentatively at the following URL hosted by the JSRPD Information Center. http://www.ap-df.org
RNN will work as the tentative secretariat of APDF until the first general assembly of APDF which is tentatively planned for next spring.
A preparatory meeting to discuss the details of APDF such as structure, membership and activities was just held in Bangkok on December 10, 2002 at the
UN Center in Bangkok.
The UN ESCAP Thematic Working Group on Disability-Concerns (TWGDC) was also just held in Bangkok on December 9 and 10.
I sincerely invite your further co-operation for APDF and wish you happy holiday seasons and a very happy new year.
Tentative secretariat of APDF
1-22-1, Toyama, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan
phone : 813-5273-0601
fax : 813-5273-1523
e-mail: eueno@dinf.ne.jp
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