Call on States Parties to MBT to mark the Int. Day of Persons with Disabilities, 3rd Dec

ICBL intervention on International Day of Persons with Disabilities – 3rd Dec
10th Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty
United Nations Head Quarter – Geneva, Switzerland
Friday 3 Dec 2010
By Firoz Alizada

Today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Since 1981, the Day aims to promote a better understanding of disability issues with a focus on the rights of persons with disabilities and gains to be derived from the integration of persons with disabilities in every aspect of the political, social, economic and cultural life of their communities .

This year’s theme for the International day of Persons with Disabilities is "Keeping the promise: Mainstreaming disability in the Millennium Development Goals towards 2015 and beyond".
Yesterday the UN Secretary-General Banki Moon called on all Governments “…to do more to support people with disabilities. That means implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. And it means integrating their needs into national Millennium Development Goal agendas. In the Action Plan adopted at the [last] MDG Summit, world leaders recognized that current efforts are insufficient”.

We call on you today to mobilize long-term and adequate resources, to improve access to public services, promote survivors’ inclusion in planning, implementation and monitoring victim assistance programmes and to enhance socio-economic assistance for all landmine and cluster munition victims and persons with disabilities.

Most of you were at the Cartagena Summit last year, and you will remember the rumble rugby match organized to celebrate the 3rd December which was one of the highlights of the week. It was organized by the ICBL, CMC and Fundación Arcangeles. As you can see in the pictures, some of us here participated.

We are pleased to inform you that yesterday evening; the Rumble in Cartagena won the Sports Event for Peace Award 2010, presented by the international organization Peace and Sport, under the patronage of Prince Albert II of Monaco.

Today, the ICBL and CMC are commemorating this day through their national campaigns, youths and member organizations in over 20 countries to increase awareness about rights and needs of landmine and cluster munitions survivors and other persons with disabilities. I would like to name some of the activities that will be carried out in those countries, today:

- Broadcast commercials for TV in Thailand
- perform marathons in Sudan and Cambodia
- organize kites fights, drumming circles, street theatre in Kabul, Burundi, Georgia, Tajikistan and Mozambique,
- Organize an inclusive bicycle race by university students through the streets of Hanoi,
- Hold art competitions and exhibitions in USA and Kathmandu,
- And peace camp for high school students in Philippines.

These are just examples of what we do to do increase awareness to convince you to take action to address the daily needs of survivors and other persons with disabilities, so we count on you, please keep up the energy!

Thank you