| Ishan Ibrahim |
THE 10th International Day for People with Special Needs or Orang Berkeperluan Khas (OBK), was celebrated at the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports (MCYS) yesterday.
The one-day session began with an open dialogue participated by experts Aiko Akiyama from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, and Akiie Ninomiya from the Asia-Pacific Development Centre on Disability (APCD). The event was also attended by the President of SMARTER Brunei Malai Haji Abdullah bin Malai Haji Othman, Managing Director of KACA Haji Abdul Alim bin Haji Othman, Policy and Planning Trustee of the Board of Trustees of Pusat Ehsan Al-Ameerah Al-Hajjah Maryam Haji Ahmad Haji Abdul Rahman, persons with disabilities, people with special needs and other guests.
The expert panel also focused their talks on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and in particular the 10th anniversary of CRPD.
The past 10 years has seen remarkable progress made in advancing the rights of persons with disabilities in the society. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on December 13, 2006 and was opened for signature on March, 30 2007.
It is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the 21st century and is the first human rights convention to be open for signature by regional organisations. The convention entered into force on May 3, 2008.
Chairman of the Council and Acting Director, Department of Community Development MCYS, Dyg Rostinah binti Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Sura Pahlawan Dato Paduka Haji Mohd Tahir (L) and officials from the United Nation Economic and Social Commission for Asia and The Pacific (UN ESCAP) at the forum.
President of SMARTER Brunei, Malai Haji Abdullah bin Malai Haji Othman speaks at the forum. – PHOTOS: BAHYIAH BAKIR
The panel also incorporated a briefing on the Incheon Strategy to ‘Make the Right Real’ for persons with disabilities in the Asia-Pacific Region, which essentially involves a process to improve the rights of persons with disabilities.
The Incheon Strategy was named after the city in the Republic of Korea where the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) High-Level Intergovernmental Meeting was held from October 29 to November 2, 2012 to adopt the Ministerial Declaration on the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities. The Incheon Strategy is a comprehensive regional policy framework for addressing these important issues.
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