1 Empowering Persons with Disabilities through ICTs Mr Abdul Waheed Khan Assistant Director-General for Communication and Information UNESCO Open Source Accessibility Forum 11 August 2009

2 UNESCO’s concept of Knowledge Societies HumanNeedsandRights KnowledgeSocieties Pluralism HumanNeedsandRightsHumanNeedsandRights KnowledgeSocietiesKnowledgeSocieties PluralismPluralism and Inclusion Knowledge Creation Knowledge Preservation Knowledge Dissemination Knowledge Utilization

3 Major principles of Knowledge Societies HumanNeedsandRights Pluralism HumanNeedsandRightsHumanNeedsandRights Knowledge Societies Pluralism Inclusion and Pluralism Freedom of Expression Cultural and linguistic diversity Universal access to information and knowledge Quality Education for All

4 Technology Revolution

5 Knowledge Divides Knowledge Divide / Digital Divide Access to knowledge Prosperity Globalization Inclusion Limited access to knowledge Poverty Marginalization Exclusion

6 Persons with disabilities constitute 10% of the world’s population (600 million persons)

7 Fewer than 2% of children with disabilities in developing countries are in school

8 Critical challenges (cont.) Relevance New skills New competencies Lack of life-long learning opportunities Employment Access Cost Equity Quality

9 International commitments Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 “all human beings are born free and equal in rights and dignity” United Nations Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities, 1993 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 2006 “Persons with disabilities can exercise the right to freedom of expression and opinion, including the freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas on an equal basis with others and through all forms of communication of their choice” (Article 21)

10 International commitments (cont.) World Summit on the Information Society Action Plan: Access to information and knowledge (Chapters C3) Encourage research and promote awareness among all stakeholders of the possibilities offered by different software models, and the means of their creation, including proprietary, open-source and free software, in order to increase competition, freedom of choice and affordability, and to enable all stakeholders to evaluate which solution best meets their requirements. Capacity building, address the need to ensure the benefits offered by ICTs for all, including disadvantaged, marginalised and vulnerable groups (Chapters C4)

11 The empowerment of persons with disabilities, particularly through effective use of ICTs, is not a charity, but the fulfilment of fundamental human rights

12 UNESCO’s action Promotes the concept of knowledge societies which are inclusive, pluralistic, equitable, open and participatory Recognizes the dignity, rights and well-being of persons with disabilities Fosters international commitment to support measures that facilitate the lives of persons with disabilities Fosters effective utilization of ICTs which are accessible, adaptive and affordable Promotes best practices

13 UNESCO recognizes the need to: Prepare national policies and encourages the local governments to introduce specific legislation Define new services, including access to the Internet and educational opportunities Develop national standards for services Train key professionals Adapt digital media to special needs Enhance social and economic integration Collect statistical data and carry out research Ensure universal design for all

14 ICTs increase the independence of persons with disabilities

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16 Development of Accessibility Guidelines to Community Multimedia Centres for Persons with Disabilities

17 Libraries and content development Projects to the development of virtual libraries (Greenstone) Talking books and e-books Training persons with disabilities to use of the PC software and the search engines Support the distribution of quality audio-visual programmes Taha Hussein Library for Blind and Visually Impaired

18 Capacity building of media professionals reporting accurately on issues related to persons with disabilities Radio has great potential as a medium of education and social inclusion for the blind Fiji Disabled Peoples Association Women's Hour Madanpokhara Community Multimedia Centre in Nepal

19 ICTs provide opportunities for flexible learning, for sharing information and for networking with disability advocates Education for rural Ethiopian youths Vocational and Technical Training Center for Disabled People, Hohhot, China

20 Open Training Platform UNESCO facilitates a collaborative access to existing free training courses and promotes open licensed resources to specialized groups and local communities for development.

21 Free and Open Source Software Portal (FOSS) The UNESCO Free Software Portal gives access to documents and websites which are references for the Free Software/Open Source Technology movement. It is also a gateway to resources related to Free Software.

22 UNESCO FOSS products FOSS Portal CDS/ISIS – library management system Greenstone – digital library system IDAMS – statistical software Museolog – museum catalogue software Enrich – community content management system

23 UNESCO’s pavilion “Empowering persons with disabilities through ICTs” at ITU Telecom World 2009, 5-9 October 2009 UNESCO invites partners working in the area of ICTs and accessibility to join its pavilion and showcase successful solutions, such as hardware, software, services and other accessibility solutions. For more information, please contact: Ms Irmgarda Kasinskaite-Buddeberg by