National Council on Disability
International Watch Federal Advisory Committee
Conference Call Meeting Minutes
January 5, 2006
12:00 p.m. EST

I. Roll Call

II. Welcome

Present

Joan Durocher
Jeff Rosen
Janet Allem
Bruce Curtis
Lee Miller
Janet Lord
Kathy Guernsey
Tina Singleton
Yerker Andersson
Dan Florio
Rebecca Russo
Karen Heinicke-Motsch
Michelle Magar
Sara Galbraith
Katherine Dorsey
Chris Tester
Don Galloway
Susan Sygall
Eric Rosenthal
Mark Engman
Judy Brewer
Anita Keller
Marco Nicoli

III. Follow-up to Washington Post article on USAID’s reconstruction work in Afghanistan (Joan Durocher)

Ms. Durocher reported that there were two recent items in the Washington Post that the Council is concerned about, one was an article on foreign assistance in Afghanistan, and the other was an editorial that was also on US foreign assistance. They both reflected an ignorance of disability rights. In the Post editorial, the statement NCD is most concerned about stated, “As if to parody its own mania for control, Congress went so far as to mandate that U.S.-financed building in developing countries should comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The result is that remote clinics in Afghanistan have wheelchair ramps; never mind that there are no wheelchairs in the vicinity.” Ms. Durocher thinks it might be a good idea to seek a meeting with the Post’s editorial board to discuss their misconceptions.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that many people, including himself, have written letters in response to the first article. Janet Allem stated that USAID is looking to craft a response and is discussing the issue in various meetings.

Janet Lord stated that Ms. Durocher's suggestion regarding seeking a meeting with the editorial board is a good strategy with NCD being the facilitator.

Ms. Magar suggested that when meeting with the editorial board it would be very helpful to have specific story ideas to suggest to them to counter the inaccurate coverage that was provided, instead of complaining about it. She suggested that we urge them to do better in the future. She added that someone should come up with an op-ed which gives us a chance to get something published.

Mr. Rosenthal stated that he submitted a letter to Fred Hiatt who is on the editorial board and said that he offered to change the letter into an op-ed. He added that it would be great to get a response from InterAction.

Mr. Engman stated that he had received a note from the Director of Advocacy at InterAction saying that they are working on a response to the broader issues criticizing the contractors.

Mr. Dan Florio stated that he thought it would be helpful to discuss the context of the argument. The human rights argument should be raised. There should be discussion of the interaction of disability and poverty, as well as infrastructure issues that should be dealt with at the very moment.

Ms. Michelle Magar stated that we should also give them contacts and sources with actual human beings to talk with who have been affected.

Mr. Rosen stated that Maria Reina followed up with a reporter who responded with a cavalier and flippant response, which NCD shared with International Watch. This issue is very important to the Council and will continue to follow up in a collaborative and vigorous manner. He stated that he and Joan will be working together to develop some ideas and will share those with International Watch.

Ms. Susan Sygall stated that she would be willing to contact Will Hotchkiss, who will be visiting Afghanistan to look at wheelchair production with local disabled people.

Ms. Katherine Dorsey stated that Ralph Neas visited Afghanistan with a team from the Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR) on the wheelchair study project in which 100 people were provide with wheelchairs.

Mr. Mark Engman said that this is an opportunity to take this beyond wheelchairs where 10% or more of the population in Sierra Leone and Iraq have become disabled by land mines and other forms of violence.

Mr. Don Galloway agreed and emphasized including and expanding other disability needs such as Braille signage and interpreting services.

Janet Lord stated that this sort of media coverage flies in the face of creating inclusive societies for which we have been working so hard on in terms of the foreign assistance work not only in regard to disabilities but other marginalized populations.

Karen Heinicke-Motsch said that this is an example of the United States micro-managing in other places. The USAID access standards specifically reference that first preference is host countries own regional standards.

Janet Allem stated that USAID is looking a variety of approaches. The original article does not say that there were no people with wheelchairs but said that the terrain on which the school is being built is not accessible. Disability is not about the person, it is about the person meshing with the environment. She said that USAID is trying to enforce standards that are consistent with what is being done in the United States and consistent with international standards. Local standards are looked at first, and if there are none, than we look at the ADA.

IV. World Bank/Center for International Rehabilitation (CIR) event on post-disaster situations (Judy Heumann)

Marco Nicoli, representing Judy Heumann's office at the World Bank, reported that on December 5th the World Bank facilitated a fact-finding meeting on post-disaster situations with a group of DPO's (Disabled People’s Organizations) and other relief organizations. He stated that he would be glad to submit the minutes by e-mail to all of the participants. He presented conclusions and next steps for the future. The conclusions were that we need to continue our efforts at collaboration, and share knowledge and experiences on how to solve problems and put this kind of information together in a web site so that it can be easily accessible. The Bank is offering the possibility of technically hosting an electronic discussion-- an "e" discussion on the issue of disaster and disability. The World Bank is working with CIR in order to organize this e-discussion. He said that they will structure the e-discussion on several topics and sub-topics and each week of discussion will be facilitated by a moderator with a free-of-charge discussion. The agenda is being developed and it will be open to input from everyone. The three segments will be pre-disaster, immediate relief, and post disaster/short term reconstruction interventions.

V. Discussion of 7th Ad Hoc Committee Meeting on a Comprehensive and Integral International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities (Katherine Guernsey)

Ms. Guernsey stated that the next session of the disability treaty negotiations will be held at the United Nations headquarters January 16-February 3, 2006. The Chair submitted his chair text at the last meeting, which is an updated and revised text synthesizing many of the amendments that have been proposed and the intention of the upcoming meeting is to do a complete read through of that text and obtain individuals responses. Ms. Guernsey added that she and Janet Lord will be in New York for the entire meeting with the DPI delegation and will be preparing a short daily update on the web.

Dr. Yerker Andersson inquired about articles 31 and 32. Article 31 deals with statistics. He stressed that it is important that the source of the statistics be included (i.e. International Classification of Functioning Disability ICF). It is important to set up international comparison world-wide. The UN should make clear that ICF would be the only source for that information. As for Article 32, the International Olympics was not listed he stressed that international disability organizations should be listed.

Katherine Guernsey stated that with regard to article 31 does address statistics and data collection. It is geared towards states parties rather than the United Nations. It is a calling upon states parties to assure that they do collect appropriate information related to disability. The intention is not only for them to do this so that they can monitor their implementation of the convention, but also to obtain the necessary data to formulate the policies and programs that they need to implement and comply with the convention. It is geared towards states parties rather than the UN so data is gathered domestically.

Mr. Nicoli submitted some information on definitions and data. He said that there is an informational group of institutions headed by the UN statistics office with the participation of the World Bank and other international organizations working on the data collection in terms of disability. The working group is called the Washington Citigroup.

Jeff Rosen stated that the Council had wanted to conduct a side event in New York to focus on monitoring. NCD held a symposium on monitoring last October that was facilitated by Katherine Guernsey and Janet Lord. A final paper will be produced and placed on the Council’s web site. He stated that one of the biggest barriers for Council and staff participation has been the lack of accommodations and that he would appreciate the chair’s call for better accommodations at the next ad hoc committee meeting. The Council has written a letter to the head of the UN and asked the US Delegation for assistance. The letter was forwarded to the US Mission in New York but the Council has not heard anything further.

Discussion on UN accessibility followed.

Katherine Dorsey stated that her organization had asked the US Delegation not to oppose the extension of the January meeting and this turned out to be very effective. Ms. Dorsey suggested doing the same for the accessibility issues at the UN.

Ms. Durocher stated that an IDC Steering Committee representative for the North American Region is needed for this meeting and if anyone is interested in serving in that role to contact Sylvia Caras.

Janet Lord stated the intent of the Chair is to complete a full reading of the new chair’s text during this three week session. There will be another session in August for three weeks to again go through another revised text. The latest news is that the process may take another year before completion.

Mr. Bruce Curtis reported that there are two important meetings taking place in February. He stated that disability organizations in England have been working with British international development organizations to develop their policies and review and do research on the effectiveness of integration and mainstreaming of disability within British foreign assistance work, as well as looking at USAID’s work. The result of their research is going to be presented to the World Bank on February 7th and also to the USAID/State Department Advisory Committee audience as well. He added that this is an excellent opportunity to find out what has been effective in integrating disabled people in development work.

VI. USICD/NCD’s Meeting with Senator Harkin’s office (Eric Rosenthal)

Eric Rosenthal stated that he, Jeff Rosen and Joan Durocher met with Senator Harkin’s office. Concern was raised that the funding that was included in last year’s legislation for disability groups had not been used. The AID has made a decision to delay it for one year. The approach AID is taking is use the funds to add to existing programs (i.e. They are going to large contractors that have big programs with AID) and essentially help those programs become accessible.

Eric Rosenthal stated that there was some new legislation that was passed in the Senate Foreign Operations Appropriations Committee that actually responded to these concerns and required AID not to use the funds for the big groups, but to help disability groups.

Discussion followed.

Adjournment: Ms. Durocher -Meeting was adjourned at 1:10P.M.