Report on the Regional Event (June 18-22, 2010 Bangkok, Thailand)
A regional event was held on June 18 to 22, 2010 in Bangkok Thailand. The week-long event was composed of the following: 1) Establishment of personal assistance service in Asia Pacific; 2) Disabled People's International Asia-Pacific (DPI-AP) Regional Meeting; and 3) Asia Pacific Disabled People's Organization (DPO) United: Regional Congress toward the Establishment of the Regional Decade on Effective Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). This regional assembly was participated by delegates from Japan, Korea, Thailand, Pakistan, Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia, Maldives, Kyrgystan, Samoa, Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, India, Singapore, Papua New Guinea, Mongolia, and other countries from Asia and the Pacific. The Philippine contingent of this regional assembly is composed of Abner Manlapaz and Benjamin "Jun" Bernandino of Life Haven Independent Living Center and Edwin De Villa of Spinal Cord Injury Foundation. They are accompanied by their PAs (Michael Dao, Cecilia Bayona and Rick De Villa). Asia Pacific Network for Independent Living (APNIL) funded the expenses for the Philippine contingent.
The first two days focused on the establishment of personal assistance (PA) service in Asia Pacific. Personal assistance is a vital factor to empower persons with extensive disabilities to live independently in the community. An effective PA service system will ensure the full participation of persons with disabilities in the community. This will help in the maximization of the potentials of the assistance user to live a full life. The PA concept deviates from the usual Filipino connotation of imposing the burden of supporting persons with disabilities to the family. This follows the progressive concept of the Independent Living philosophy regarding the social model perspective on disability. Since the Philippines is not yet implementing the PA service system, the Filipino participants shared their insights and learned from the experience of the other delegates. As shown by the experience of Philippines' neighboring countries, it is possible to establish this system if there is a strong political will.
On the third day was the Disabled People's International Asia-Pacific (DPI-AP) Regional Meeting. On this event, the Philippines was given observer status because the official representative was not able to attend. The Filipino representatives' participated and inputs were still given weight. An ASEAN council was established for sub-regional cooperation. Preliminary discussion for the declaration of another decade towards effective implementation of CRPD.
The fourth and fifth day was the Regional Congress toward the Establishment of the Regional Decade on Effective Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This was held at UNESCAP. Recognizing the importance of having a new decade for persons with disabilities in the Asia and Pacific region towards full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the delegates unanimously supported the declaration of the 3rd decade. The result of the efforts of all participants is now embodied in the Bangkok Recommendation dated July 22, 2010 in the grounds of UNESCAP, Bangkok Thailand.
All in all these regional events manifested in concrete form the sector's motto – "Nothing about us Without us".
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Benjamin Bernandino (Jun)
www.lifehaveninc.org
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