2004: The Ibero-American Year of Persons with Disabilities

The XII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia, November 14 to 15, 2003, proclaimed 2004 the Ibero-American Year of Persons with Disabilities.

This decision was adopted based on a proposal presented by the government of Spain, which in turn was responding to an initiative proposed by the Ibero-American Network of Organizations of persons with, Disabilities and their Families (Red Iberoamericana de Organizaciones de Personas con Discapacidad y sus Familias, RIADIS) and the Spanish Committee of the Representatives of Persons with Disabilities (Comité Español de Representantes de Personas con Discapacidad (CERMI).

The declaration of the heads of state concerning the Ibero-American Year of Persons with Disabilities is found at Section 39: "With the purpose of increasing understanding and awareness of the issues regarding persons with disabilities and gaining support for institutions and policies on the dignity, human rights, and the quality of life of persons with disabilities, we proclaim 2004 as the Ibero-American Year of Persons with Disabilities."

On October, 2002, the members of Constitutional Assembly of the Ibero-American Network decided to request the governments of our countries to declare 2004 the Ibero-American Year of Persons with Disabilities. The purpose of such a declaration is to increase awareness and call to action regarding the present and alarming conditions of discrimination and exclusion against persons with disabilities of our region. The initiative also has been strongly supported by the Spanish Committee of the representatives of Persons with Disabilities, on of the founders of the Ibero-American Network.

When receiving the news of the declaration, Lenín Molina Peñaloza, President of the Ibero-American Network said: "We hope that this declaration will elevate the level of awareness of the Member States regarding the alarming situation of poverty and social exclusion encountered by large sectors of the population of the Latin American and the Caribbean countries. Here there is a great need for practical public policies aimed at improving the quality of life of persons with disabilities."

Furthermore, Lenín Molina Peñaloza stated that the Ibero-American Network will dedicate itself to the defense and promotion of human rights of persons with disabilities, and with respect to the proclamation, he noted that "it is an opportunity to strengthen other similarly important contributions by the Organization of American States, like prompting the remaining Member States that still have not ratified the Inter-American Convention the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities to do so and to appoint, the Special Committee. It needs to meet to verify the level of compliance with this international treaty by the corresponding States parties." The establishment and operation of this Special Committee are detailed in Article VI of the Inter-American Convention and it should have had been convened in February of 2003.

"The Ibero-American Network will continue its support to the propose United Nations Convention to promote the rights and dignity of personas with disabilities," said Lenín Molina Peñalosa. He also added that the Network, which is composed of more than 100 organizations of persons with disabilities, will hold its bi-annual Conference in Rio de Janeiro, next year, 2004.

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