AusAID’s Disability Reference Group, advocating for the Rights of People with disabilities in the Pacific

1 August 2012

In a first for the Pacific, AusAID’s Disability Reference Group (DRG) will be holding high level meetings in Fiji from today with national, regional and international stakeholders working to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

The DRG is an advisory group of senior international and Pacific leaders, including people with disabilities. It helps to shape AusAID’s implementation of its strategy Development for All: Towards a Disability-Inclusive Australian Aid Program 20092014 and to ensure that Australia is informed by the voice of people with disability. The DRG also advises Australia on its international commitments under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Members of the DRG are invited on the basis of their standing in the disability community, their knowledge and practical experience in disability-inclusive development, particularly in the Pacific and Asia regions.

Current members of the group are:

Ms Charlotte McClain-Nhlapo—Coordinator, Office for Disability and Inclusive Development, USAID

Mr. Monthian Buntan—Senator, Government of the Kingdom of Thailand

Mr Setareki S. Macanawai—CEO, Pacific Disability Forum

Ms Rosemary Kayess—Director, Human Rights and Disability Projects, Australian Human Rights Centre at the University of New South Wales

Ms Deborah Rhodes—representing the Australian Disability and Development Consortium

Ms Ingar Duering—Head of Sector Initiative Persons with Disabilities, Social Protection Section, GIZ

Mr Frederick Miller—Disability Coordinator, PacificIslands Forum Secretariat

In welcoming the international delegation, Australia’s Acting High Commissioner, Mr. Glenn Miles said, “Over the next three days the group will engage with senior stakeholders in the Pacific. We expect these meetings to draw attention to the importance of people with disability benefitting from development efforts in the same way as others. We also look forward to the insights that AusAID’s Disability Reference Group will give the Australian Government on how to ensure that our aid program includes and benefits people with disability in the Pacific.”

“We are particularly pleased to have Pacific leaders strongly represented on the DRG. Mr. Setareki Macanawai, CEO, Pacific Disability Forum and Mr. Frederick Miller, Disability Coordinator, Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat who will provide a strong Pacific voice to guide the group’s discussion and influence” said Mr. Miles.

“This week Pacific countries and development partners can showcase good-practice and learn from international development practice that benefits all people. This really is the first opportunity for a public and open discussion on disability and rights in the Pacific involving international experts and leaders, most of whom are people with disabilities themselves”, said Mr Macanawai.

DRG member Senator Monthian Buntan from Thailand, says: “My slogan is that ‘I have given up on giving up’. I hope that this week of meetings inspires Pacific Islanders to keep working towards a situation where the 15 per cent of the world’s population with disability and their families enjoy the lives they choose to live.”

The DRG will meet with senior stakeholders in the Pacific, including the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, the Pacific Disability Forum and UN Partners. Meetings with the Fiji National Council for Disabled Persons, representatives from the Australia-PacificTechnicalCollege new Disability Studies Centre, and the Vice Chancellor of the University of the South Pacific will be key to efforts to promote education opportunities for students with disabilities in the Pacific

In partnership with the University of the South Pacific, the reference group will hold a panel discussion on Disability Rights for an Inclusive Society tomorrow, the 2nd of August at its MultiPurpose Centre on Laucala Campus. The panel discussion will take place from 10am12pm and will be open to the public.

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Background

AusAID’s Disability-Inclusive Development Reference Group (DRG) was established in early 2009, and has met on five previous occasions. It is an honorary advisory group comprising international and Australian leaders in disability-inclusive development. The role of the DRG is to provide high level guidance on disability-inclusive development and to help to shape AusAID’s implementation of the Development for All strategy.

Disability-inclusive development is a high priority for Australian aid in the Pacific. AusAID’s Development for All strategy aims to enhance the lives of and opportunities for people with disability. Central to the success of this strategy is the involvement and ownership of people with disability in addressing the issues that affect them.

Three Forum Island Countries have ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – Cook Islands, Vanuatu and Nauru – and seven more are signatories, expressing commitment to promoting rights of, and eliminating barriers to the active contribution to society by Pacific Islanders with disability. There has also been an increase in disability legislation and policy development across the region, with nine of fourteen Forum Island Countries developing Cabinet-endorsed national disability policies.

For clarifications or further information contact: The Public Affairs Section, Australian High Commission, Suva. Tel: (679)3382211 – Ext 246 Fax: (679) 3382065