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14.10.2016 - Communication & Information Sector

UNESCO appoints international Jury of the UNESCO/Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Prize for Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities

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Five prominent personalities with recognized reputation in the disability field have been officially appointed as members of the international Jury by Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO. The members of the international Jury, listed below in alphabetical order, were selected based on their professional expertise, with due consideration for geographical representation and gender balance.

  • Ms Catalina Devandas Aguilar, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, United Nations Human Rights Council (Costa Rica);   
  • Ms May Chidiac, Founder of the May Chidiac Foundation, Lebanese journalist and winner of the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in 2006 (Lebanon);            
  • Mr Klaus Miesenberger, Professor, Institut Integriert Studieren, Johannes Kepler Universitat Linz and International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, ICCHP (Austria);    
  • Mr Martin Babu Mwesigwa, Member and Rapporteur of the Committee of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and former Program Manager for the National Union of Disabled Persons in Uganda (Uganda);   
  • Ms Saima Wazed Putul, Chairperson of National Advisory Committee on Autism; Psychologist, Member of the World Health Organization Expert Advisory Panel on Mental Health (Bangladesh).

The international Jury will be assessing the nominations submitted for the individual and organization categories of the UNESCO/Emir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah Prize for Digital Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities. The Prize-winner/s will be announced second part of November 2016 and be awarded by the Director-General at the official ceremony held for that purpose on 2 December 2016, at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. The Jury will base its work on three thematic axes which are of importance in UNESCO’s work with persons with disabilities:

  • Formulating policy, advocacy, co-operation and partnerships;
  • Creating and developing digital solutions, enabling environments and processes, including tools and resources;
  • Building and strengthening the capacities of people to create, adapt and use digital solutions in a cost efficient and sustainable manner.

This Prize echoes UNESCO’s global priorities and efforts to promote inclusion and empowerment of persons with disabilities in society, translating human rights and fundamental freedoms into action, with emphasis on removing barriers to access information and knowledge as well as in learning and participation in society.

Furthermore, the Prize contributes to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and is in compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UN CRPD).

More about UNESCO’s programme on promotion of access to information and knowledge for persons with disabilities using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs): http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0024/002445/244543E.pdf




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