Disability Rights Making connections My Village, My Life  

Campaign and Education

Raising Issues and  Raising Awareness

     
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Raising Awareness
Raising Issues

Raising Awareness



Same Difference exhibition at Sheffield Central Library, April 2006

Same Difference
Same Difference is an exciting International Service project led by award-winning artist, Ross Georgeson. The project aims to use art and creativity workshops to boost the confidence and self esteem of children living with HIV/AIDS, conflict, disability and extreme poverty in each of International Service’s programme countries. The idea is to make a series of collaborative art exhibitions of children’s work, culminating in a large touring exhibition in the UK bringing development awareness messages to the public.
Click here to find out more.

Better by the Year
Do you think you could survive on less than $1 (60p) a day, feel constantly hungry and have no prospect of a job? Probably not, but more than 1 billion people across the world do and over 200 million of them are young people.

What is being done about this? In the year 2000 all 191 United Nations Member states pledged to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals(MDGs) by the year 2015. Goal 1 aims to end extreme poverty and hunger in all countries by 2015.

The Better by the Year? website looks at the challenges faced by five developing countries, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Mali and Palestine in South America, Africa and the Middle East. The website explores how these countries are working to improve the lives of their poorest citizens and examines what support they are getting from richer countries.

My Village, My Life is International Services global citizenship resource for Key Stages 3 & 4.
It gives pupils in the UK a chance to compare their ideas about what's important with pupils in Burkina Faso. The resource brings to life some of the real-life dilemmas faced by people in rural West Africa and gives pupils a chance to decide what to do for the best. Follow this link to learn more about My Village, My Life.

International Service is linked with the Yorkshire and Humberside Global Schools Association, part of DfID's Enabling Effective Support programme.
Check out their website for schools and teachers at www.globalschools.org.uk

Raising Issues

International Service wants to see people with disabilities included at every stage of the development process. Since 2001 we have been working to raise the issue of mainstreaming disability in every development programme and partnership. We have also introduced a policy on disability, click here to read it.
There have been two international conferences on this theme. Read the reports by clicking on the links below.
 

Disability: A Global Concern, June 2001
Conference calling for a UN Convention on the right of persons with disabilities

 
Left off the Agenda:
Mainstreaming Disability in Development, November 2003
Conference calling for full participation at every level of people with disabilities in the development process
 

"It is not acceptable for a development organisation to say, 'we are doing some nice disability projects and some nice water projects'. It is time to see the inclusion of disabled people as intrinsic to every project."

Jane Carter, Chief Executive, IS

Jane Carter speaks with a conference attendee in November 2003.


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Disability Rights: A Global Concern

Conference 2001

Over 100 people attended the June 2001 Conference held in London at which international representatives of organisations working with people with disabilities called for a UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

A delegate from Mali arrives for the 2001 conference

Ziad Armo, General Union of Disabled Palestinians, speaks during the conference

 Baroness Wilkins speaks with Mme Hatouma Gakou Djikine from Mali during a break in the proceedings
The Conference agreed the following statement:
We are all committed to a comprehensive convention on the rights of disabled persons. Recognising those governments already supporting a convention, we call upon all governments and the host UK government in particular, to support a convention. We also commit ourselves to do all we can through the channels available to us to campaign for a convention.”

Since that Conference discussions have begun on a UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.
For an update on the process and progress towards a Convention, visit this UN website: http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/index.html


Click here for a full conference report

 
If you would like any further information or have any comments on IS Campaigns and Education work, please contact Development Awareness Coordinator, click here .

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