Consultative meetings on ICTs and disabilities
UNESCO, in cooperation with Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict), is organizing the consultative meeting “Mainstreaming ICTs for Persons with Disabilities To access Information and Knowledge” on 22-23 February 2010 (Room XIV) at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. The major aim of the meeting is to discuss how UNESCO could assist its Member States in facilitating social inclusion of persons with disabilities through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Seventy six countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities committing them to ensuring that persons with disabilities enjoy all human rights on an equal basis with others. A number of the general principles included in the UN Convention are directly linked to UNESCO’s mandate.
In order to facilitate the implementation process of the UN Convention, UNESCO, in cooperation with Global Initiative for Inclusive Information and Communication Technologies (G3ict), is organizing a consultative meeting on 22-23 February 2010 at UNESCO Headquarters (Room XIV) in Paris, France. The major aim of the meeting is to discuss how UNESCO could assist its Member States to meet this international commitment in facilitating social inclusion of persons with disabilities through Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The meeting will be attended by the representatives of the disabled community, IT&T industry, international and national research and educational institutions, non-governmental organizations working in the subject area.
UNESCO at ITU Telecom World 2009
5-9 October 2009, UNESCO organized its pavilion entitled “Empowering persons with disabilities” at ITU Telecom World 2009. The ITU Telecom World was one of the major events for the global telecom and ICT sector bringing together key players from industry, policy makers, nongovernmental organizations and UN family around the world.
UNESCO’s pavilion was aiming to illustrate and demonstrate successful ICT applications and services for persons with disabilities. Together with its partners, such as DAISY Consortium, China Foundation for Disabled Persons, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Everyone Counts, Inc., Nuance Communications, Freedom Scientific, Ability, supported by Willager and Dominic Foundation displayed their hardware, software, services and applications for educational, scientific, communication and information purposes. The pavilion also provided space for mobilization of new, action-oriented partnerships and cooperation among various stakeholders.
The event was a great opportunity for UNESCO to promote the notion of knowledge societies where everyone can create, access, use and share information and knowledge as well as equally benefit and contribute to the societal development.