Webinar: Protecting and Empowering Persons with Disabilities in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic
15 May 2020, 09:00 – 11:00 hours, Thailand Standard Time
ESCAP, in collaboration with Ms. Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility, organized a webinar on protecting and empowering persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watch the recording on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LBxjd50ldU
Watch the Leave Us Not Behind Video on: https://youtu.be/GWDlwsFrHD4
Objectives:
- Identify policy gaps and challenges in addressing the acute and longer-term needs of persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
Explore how governments, organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs), private sector entities and other stakeholders can jointly design and implement policy solutions to protect and empower persons with disabilities to deal with the impacts of COVID-19
Target audience:
- ESCAP members and associate members, including representatives from ministries responsible for social affairs/welfare, health, education, labour/human resources development, local government, home affairs, as well as other concerned ministries
- Organizations of persons with disabilities
- Other civil society organizations and private sector entities with experience in disability inclusion and insights regarding creative options for the economic and social empowerment of persons with disabilities in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic
- Persons with diverse disabilities, parents and supporters
- United Nations Country Teams and other United Nations entities
Notable speakers:
Having brought together an array of government officials, experts, advocates and practitioners to explore innovative solutions on mainstreaming disability inclusion into pandemic policy measures. the webinar featured:
- Ms. Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General on Disability and Accessibility
- Mr. Kaveh Zahedi, Deputy Executive Secretary, ESCAP
- H.E. Ms. Haidi Zhang, Chairperson, China Disabled Persons’ Federation; President, Rehabilitation International; and ESCAP Champion for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013-2022
- Mr. Monthian Buntan, Senator, Parliament of Thailand; Member, United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities; and ESCAP Champion for the Asian and Pacific Decade of Persons with Disabilities, 2013-2022
- Mr. Stephen Sui, Senior Expert and former Secretary of Labour and Welfare, Government of Hong Kong, China
- Ms. Anjlee Agarwal, Executive Director, Samarthyam; Member, National Institution for Transforming India (NITI)-CSO Standing Committee, India
- Mr. Masahito Kawamori, Co-chair, Focus Group on Media Accessibility, International Telecommunication Union
- Ms. Valerie Julliand, United Nations Resident Coordinator, Nepal