International Watch Members (Present)
Kathleen Martinez, Facilitator
Judi Chamberlin
Nora Groce
Arlene Kanter
Will Smith
Eric Rosenthal
Bruce Curtis

NCD Staff and Consultants (Present)
Jeff Rosen
Joan Duroche
r Joelle Balfe
Celane McWhorter

Guests (Present)
Janet Allem
Rosemary Ciotti
Cappie Morgan
John Kemp
Mark Engman
Andy Imparato
Susan Parker
Susan Daniels
Ilene Zeitzer

I. Call to Order

Ms. Martinez called the meeting to order at 12:10 p.m. She indicated that she wanted to wait a moment for others to join the call that were attending the USICD board meeting.

II. Roll Call and Welcome

Ms. Martinez welcome the members and asked who was on the call.

Ms. Durocher thanked USICD for taking a break in their board meeting to participate in NCD's call.

III. Amend/Approve the Agenda

Ms. Groce moved to approve the agenda.

IV. Foreign Assistance

Ms. Martinez stated that Arlene Kanter and Eric Rosenthal have been commissioned to write a paper for NCD to make recommendations with regard to foreign assistance.

1. Update on NCD's Foreign Policy and Disability paper

Mr. Rosenthal reported that on the last International Watch teleconference he summarized the report, so he would give just a brief overview now. He stated that the paper is an analysis of current U.S. Government policies on the inclusion of people with disabilities both as U.S. citizens and contractors working in international areas and the inclusion of people with disabilities in target countries of foreign assistance. He stated that the paper critiques the current U.S. Government policy that discriminates against people with disabilities and calls for legislation to require the inclusion of people with disabilities as participants and recipients of foreign assistance and as subjects of our foreign policy.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that the paper is completed and a meeting has been scheduled by NCD with Mr. Lorne Craner, Department of State, to discuss the report and get his feedback. The release of the report is scheduled for the first week of June or immediately after the July 4th holiday.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that the disability caucus in Congress has offered its assistance with the report's release on Capitol Hill. The process has not yet begun, but he hopes to get participation from both Republicans and Democrats. He encouraged members of International Watch that have ideas about rolling the report out to get in touch with him or NCD so that this effort can be as broad and inclusive as possible. Mr. Rosenthal and Arlene Kanter, co-author of the report, have received a lot of feedback and good comments on the report.

Mr. Engman stated that Senator Lugar is very serious about backing a foreign assistance authorization bill this year.

Ms. Ciotti stated that she mentioned this effort to staff members of Senators Leahy and Lugar and have given them a heads-up on this as well as spoken to them personally while visiting their offices.

Mr. Rosenthal said that there is a parallel effort to get congressional support for the resolution on the Convention.

Dr. Smith stated that the only issue remaining with the resolution is that of funding, which will get people nervous. Dr. Smith also mentioned that Representative Henry Hyde has agreed to sign on to the Dear Colleague letter. On the Senate side there has not been much progress. Outreach has been made to Senators Hagel, Smith, Sununu and Chafee to try and get their support for the Dear Colleague letter and we are awaiting word from them. We may try and get Rep. Langevin to submit a note to Senator Chafee.

Mr. Kemp stated that USICD gathered fifty signatories to a letter of support urging the U.S. to take a leadership role in the UN Convention.

Ms. Balfe stated that we should be thinking ahead about how we undertake a similar process to get support for the concepts in the paper and some of the legislative changes that may result from that.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that it would be extremely valuable if USICD would consider endorsing the recommendations of the paper and that could be a start. Mr. Rosenthal stated that we need the extra time to get congressional support for a good solid release in July instead of June. He stated that if we have an advance release that it would get more attention than the report itself.

Ms. Parker stated that it would be a good idea to educate some of the folks working on the Convention on some of the issues noted in this foreign assistance paper. They could benefit from a broader view. Mr. Kemp stated that he is in favor of circulating the paper and Ms. Martinez agreed.

Ms. Martinez stated that a number of people have suggested a briefing and that is under consideration as well.

Mr. Imparato stated that the NAPAS conference is scheduled for next week and the NICL conference is scheduled for the beginning of June. He said that there should be a one pager on this issue because the AAPD is going to be presenting at both conferences and he would try and get some information out on the report.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that a one pager is a good idea and that he will develop such by next week.

Ms. Martinez stated that there are a number of conferences that are occurring in addition to NAPAS and NICL and this paper could be distributed at those as well.

2. Reconstruction Work in Iraq

Ms. Martinez stated that International Watch has been working with members of the Congressional Disability Caucus staffers in Senator Tom Harkin's office on language for bills addressing reconstruction efforts in Iraq.

Mr. Curtis stated that the U.S. has been establishing a simultaneous process of trying to deal with reconstruction of basic infrastructure and also service delivery systems to get them back up and running. There is a contracting process whereas eight contracts with major private and public non-profit organizations have been awarded, worth millions of dollars.

Mr. Curtis said that we have been speaking with staffers on the Hill, particularly Senator Harkin's staff, to get some language included as a follow-up on the foreign policy paper concept on how the funds are going to be spent addressing the needs of people with disabilities in Iraq. He stated that there is some movement from Harkin's staff to introduce some language.

Mr. Curtis stated that WID, on a private level, has reached out to two of the sub-contractors (Bechtel and Creative Associates). Creative Associates has the subcontract with the education sector. They will be training teachers and re-supplying school materials and moving forward with the school system. Bechtel has the contract which includes water, sewage, airports, roads and school buildings. We asked the contractors in a letter about what they are doing to include disabled people within their contracts. He stated that Bechtel has given WID its community relations person to talk with and Creative Associates have referred WID to its consultant database.

Mr. Curtis stated that Creative Associates is an ally and has been sensitive to disability issues. They held a discussion seminar with top USAID staff and Judy Heumann of the World Bank.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that several representatives from various disability organizations met with Lorne Craner last week about the Convention. The issue of Baghdad reconstruction was raised, and Mr. Craner indicated that there will be a follow-up meeting to discuss Iraq reconstruction.

Mr. Rosenthal read in Mr. Craner's briefing book the problem we are going to face with the disability community is that this is shaping up to be an economic and social rights Convention, which we (the US) oppose. Mr. Rosenthal reported that he told Mr. Craner that at this point, having any leadership at all from the US, just supporting that there should be a Convention and that weighing in that this is a broad human rights problem, would be valuable.

Mr. Will Smith stated that his organization is in the process of sending a delegation to Iraq.

Mr. Engman stated that his organization has some connections with Creative Associates and have worked with them on other things across the world. Mr. Engman stated that his organization has a child protection expert in Iman getting ready to go to Iraq and is working on a large assessment of conditions in Iraq hopefully funded by UNICEF. CCF and Save the Children are trying to work disability criteria into the assessment as they have done in Afghanistan and other places. The protection experts on the ground are trying to include disability into their assessments as well. Ms. Martinez said that she, Ms. Balfe, and Ms. Groce are very interested in this area.

Ms. Ciotti stated that she hopes that Senator Feinstein will be introducing a bill that her agency is working on to include feminists with disabilities. She said that she has been working with the Ministry of Women and the Ministry of Communication to develop some programs that will include people with disabilities. She said that Verizon has agreed to sign on to help fund some computer and information technology for children with disabilities.

Dr. Smith stated that there is going to be an event with DPI and LSN and the diplomatic community on June 16 in New York during the Ad hoc committee meeting.

3. Quito Regional Meeting on the Convention

Dr. Smith reported that there have been a series of regional meetings, with one in Quito. The Chinese meeting was canceled due to the SARS scare. The Quito meeting was very productive in terms of NGO participation. The Latin American countries were very good and received good support.

V. Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 1:00 p.m.