United Nations
Moto of the Int. Disability Caucus |
Disability Community Celebrates the Adoption of new UN Treaty on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities The Convention will bring people with disabilities from the isolation produced by discrimination to full and equal inclusion and participation in all social and political aspects of life. This first human rights treaty of the century is the only international legal instrument dedicated to the rights of persons with disabilities. It marks a paradigm shift towards respecting persons with disabilities as individuals with human rights. The IDC, a coalition of 70 international, regional and national organizations of people with disabilities and allies around the world that have been actively engaged in the negotiations, urges Governments to ratify and implement the Convention into national laws, policies and legal structures, to ensure that persons with disabilities are treated equally in all aspects of life. Existing non-discrimination laws must be strengthened and new ones enacted to guarantee equality of opportunity and outcomes. A sustained effort is now needed to ensure that governments ratify and implement the Treaty and fully recognize the legal and cultural rights of persons with disabilities. Around the world, persons with disabilities are contributing to society in countless ways, and could contribute even more if fully included in the community. The active and appreciated involvement of civil society, especially persons with disabilities and their representative organizations, in the negotiations process is widely considered a monumental advance in how major human rights instruments are approached within the UN. The collaboration of persons with disabilities worldwide - both within the disability community and with governments and others - through online networks and in person has been a key element of achieving the motto: "Nothing about us, without us." Fort this info we are greatful to Miss Janet Meagher
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Location of the congress - Athens
WAPR celebrated 20 year anniversary
The congress speakers
WHO- WAPR- User/Consumer meeting
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The IX World Congress Of Psychosocial Rehabilitation In Athens October 12-15 2006 In Athens the World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation celebrated its 20th anniversary and organized its IX World Congress in Athens in the brand new International Congress Center. This Congress was sponsored by W.H.O. under the patronage of his Excellency the President of the Republic, who honored our Congress by his presence and declared the Congress open. The Opening Ceremony was splendid with also the presence of the Deputy Minister of Health, the President of the Athens Academy, the University of Athens Rector, the President of EUFAMI, the President of the Panhellenic Federation of Families, the President of the Users Association Anagenissi. The participants exceeded 1000 persons from 52 countries, including professionals, families and users. For the first time in a WAPR Congress, the participation of users reached more than 100 individuals. The statistics of the Congress included 400 scientific events with 35 symposia three satellite symposia, 5 workshops, 27 key lectures, three special lectures, 127 oral scientific presentations, 160 posters, 48 meet the experts and what’s new sessions and three special sessions with performances and video projection. About 30 young scholars from Africa and Asia were supported in terms of accommodation and registration and almost for 100 participants the registration fee was waved. The UEMS approved 21 CME credits. During the Congress World Health Organization launched the Global Forum for Community Mental Health. The Assembly approved the Athens Declaration on Tortures and the Athens Declaration on Mental Illness. It is commonly accepted by the majority of participants that Our Congress was very successful regarding the quality of scientific topics already shown in the Congress website and dissemination of knowledge, the participation of audience in each session and the organizational structure and process. After the congress our representative and 10 more consumers representatives from all around the world, had a meeting with Dr Benedetto Saraceno (Director of WHO Mental Health Department), Dr Mike Madianos and Dr Angelo Barbato. On the meeting the discussion was about WHO initiative “Atlas in Mental Health User Consumer Movements “. All participants had a different views and possibilities to share their experience on the matter. It seemed very symptomatic diversity of opinions, users and consumers from Western developed countries were less eager and more skeptic than those from Lower Income countries about future cooperation on Atlas . How ever the discussion was very fruitful. Hence, we expect to cooperate with WHO Geneva and WAPR on Atlas in Macedonia. To read about the personal report by our representative at the congress, please visit the latest newsletter. |
The beautiful city of Milano
EUFAMI representatives
User representatives |
Reflections from conference in Milano “the Consumers view” On 7 of June 2005 in Milan where orginsed conference of ”World Association for Psychosocial Rehabilitation” WAPR on topic “The consumers view and models of Psychosocial rehabilitation”. Participants from Consumers organizations were:
Consumers from the world ENUPS ,WAPR,WNUSP representatives Family members representatives where:
Representatives from world education centers.
Among the many quests and country representatives wase Mr Dejan Stevanoavic from Republic of Macedonia. During his stay he had many formal and informal meetings on all levels. On the Conference in Milan he had informal talk whit Mr Benedetto Sracceno director of WHO Geneva Office. At the end of conference. Mr Dejan Stvenovic was present on WAPR board meeting and he made a disccusion about future action steps and mutual cooperation between WAPR and Mental Health movement in Macedonia.
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The city of Skopje in the summer
The meeting at WHO Office
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Study visit to Skopje – Mr. Daniel Cohavy – WAPR Board Consumer Representative Mr Daniel Cohavi visited Macedonia in August 2005. During his stay in Skopje he established contacts and meetings on difrent levels. One of his meetings was held at the first Center for Mental Health (opened by WHO), there he had contact with the Macedonian Stability Pact Coordinator – Dr. Vladimir Ortakov. At this Center for Mental Health he discussed on several topics with a user representative NGO Welcome. At the Regional WHO-regionall office Macedonia he had a meeting with Ms. Dimitrinka Jordanovska-Pesevska as a coordinator for Mental Health at the WHO office. This rounded up a general study visit with representatives from the policymakers, the private sector and the NGO sector. This visit was organized by our organization and we are very happy to had the chance to have Mr. Daniel Cohavy as our guest and we will be expecting him to come to sunny Macedonia again any time. |
The city of Sofia - Bulgaria
Macedonian team presenting
Dejan Stevanovic presentation |
III SEE Mental Health Policy Forum - Exploring the SEE Experience in the Deinstitutionalization of Mental Health Care - 28-29th April 2006, Bulgaria The goal of the annual SEE Mental Health Policy Forums, organized by the GIP-Sofia is to initiate a SEE mental health network in which all the important stakeholders on the mental health scene are represented: NGOs of mental health professionals, users and relatives and governmental institutions (social and health ministries), which have a responsibility for the development of policies and services for the people with mental health problems. The goal of the current forum is to elaborate on the themes from the previous meeting and to provide the SEE countries representatives with the opportunity to share their experiences in the process of deinstitutionalization of their mental health care systems. Expected result: Stigma against people with mental illness is one of the major factors for the decreased quality of their lives worldwide. Promotion of mental health involves a complex set of strategies and actions, aimed at enhancing the visibility and value of mental health at societal and individual level. Special emphasis is put on participation and empowerment, on intersectoral collaboration and on actions that support sustainable development. Although approaches may vary from culture to culture in SEE, they would usually employ actions targeting the individual, society, as well as international, structural, informational and educational activities. Experience with mental health reforms in the SEE region countries reveals that even though the vocabulary of community care has been taken on board and official documents have expressed political will for reforms, it is still very difficult to change day-to-day practices and more often than not institutional care is the only option for people with mental disorders.
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