World Report launch timed around International Day of Persons with Disabilities

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Participants at the launching of the world report on disability in Lome, Togo on November 29, 2011

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is celebrated each year on 3rd December. This year particularly, in opening the celebration, CBM and its partners launched the World Report on Disability in Togo. The report was initially launched in New York on June 09, 2011, three years after the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In Lomé, Togo, many personalities such as CBM, Handicap International, the Ministry of Social Actions and National Solidarity, WHO, World Bank, FETAPH, the umbrella DPO of Togo, the German Ambassador, the Representative of France, the Representative of USA and many persons with disabilities took part in the event.

Mr Komivi Ayassou, President of the Association of Persons with Disabilities in Togo who was also the chairman of the ceremony, after welcoming the mass, thanked everyone for being there for the launching and also for their support toward persons with disabilities. He added at the end of all speeches that the presence of their partners gives them a strong signal that they will continue to advocate and help them to implement all recommendations that are made in the World Report on Disability. The event was animated by the “Happy Brothers”, a band composed of Persons with Disabilities and mostly blind person.

On the sidelines of the works, a press conference was held to present the program of activities planned to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Under the topic, "Together for a better world for all: including people with disabilities in development", this day will allow stakeholders to provide an opportunity to involve all interested communities to consider and encourage them to think of incentives and innovative measures for better implementation of international norms and standards concerning persons with disabilities.

open panel: Together for a better world for all: Including people with disabilities in development

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From left: CBM West Africa Regional Director, Michael Kirumba and Togo WHO representative Dr. Pierre M'pele listen as Togo Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity, Mrs Maimounatou Ibrahima, speaks at the launch of the Report on Disability in Togo

All speakers highlighted the fact that disability and exclusion are linked in our society.

Togo WHO Representative, Dr. Pierre M’PELE: “… We should keep in mind the concepts of equal value and opportunities and fairness, so that we can stop considering some groups of people as inferior simply because they are not like ourselves. Inclusion should only be the beginning of a larger awareness of the needs of those with disabilities. Together, we mobilize and pool our energies to allow persons with disabilities access to services and primary health care; we should endeavor to invest in specialized programs including rehabilitation…”

World Bank representative, Hervé ASSAH: “… The response to disability implies implementation of multi-sector policies and civic-mindedness of all people across the country. I’m talking of supporting projects in social sectors as well as projects in the fields of transport and services. Regarding the World Bank, I would here make it clear that our institution will strive to ensure that project development takes into account the necessary response to disability…”

Togo Ministry of Social Affairs and National Solidarity, Mrs. Maimounatou IBRAHIMA: “… All sectors of society need to look out for persons with disabilities in society. Disability issues should no longer be addressed in isolation, but in a multi-sectoral approach. In my view, the report is a launching point for a concentrated effort to include those with disabilities. “The contents of this report lead us to mobilization. Government development partners, civil society - working in the field of disability or not - and the whole community are to remove barriers and allow greater participation of persons with disabilities in their communities…”

open panel: From FETAPH Program Manager: Mr. Palacbawy Katachom

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Mr. Katatchom, FETAPH Program Manager, presenting the situation of disabilities in Togo during the launch event of the world report on Disability, November 29, 2011 in Lomé, Togo

"... The launch of the report signals a very important opportunity for support organizations like FETAPH. This report is a compliment to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which Togo ratified in March of this year. And with the recommendations in the world report on disability, I think the government, the social society and other partners like CBM and Handicap International will have further means to develop their advocacy. 

“We have seen the Ministry of Social Action and National Solidarity and the WHO’s representative for Togo launching this report locally. That means they want to take into account what has been written in this paper. In reading the world report on disability, we know that across the world, organizations are becoming increasingly sensitized toward the rights of people with disabilities. Development without 15 per cent of a country's population is not development. We have to take everybody into account."

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