<html>
<font size=3>Thank you very much, dear Hiroshi, and keep up the great
battle, along with our team - "Right" MUST & WILL prevail
in the end, so "Fight the Good Fight, with all your might", to
quote a popular hymn.<br><br>
Considering the severe time constraint, you have achieved much in putting
across so many key points. It will be interesting to know how it was
received and the final outcome, of course.<br><br>
All the best, and fully behind the efforts, both in thought and
prayer.<br><br>
Bill<br>
</font><font size=2>(</font><font size=1>William G Brohier) <br>
Regional
Adviser<x-tab> </x-tab>
<br>
Education of Visually Impaired Persons<x-tab> </x-tab><br>
<b>CBM </b>Christoffel-Blindenmission <br>
Christian Blind Mission e.V., &<br>
Past President<br>
International Council for Education of <br>
People with Visual Impairment
(<b>ICEVI</b>)<x-tab> </x-tab><x-tab> </x-tab>
<br>
37 Jesselton Crescent<br>
10450 Penang, Malaysia<br>
Tel: 60-4-229 0933<br>
Fax: 60-4-228 9357<br>
E-mail: brohier@pc.jaring.my<br><br>
</font><font size=3>At 08:11 PM 2/25/2005 +0900, Hiroshi Kawamura
wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Dear all:<br><br>
Please find attached, and copied in the body, intervention of mine on
behalf of the Disability Caucus.<br>
The topic was limited to the "financial mechanism" due to the
context of the discussion of the<br>
PrepCom.<br><br>
Hiroshi Kawamura<br>
Disability Focal Point<br>
hkawa@attglobal.net<br><br>
-----------------<br>
Intervention on behalf of the Civil Society Disability Caucus to the
PrepCom2 of WSIS II delivered on<br>
25th February 2005 at Room XIX, Palais de Nations.<br><br>
Re: Revised Chapter 2 of the Operational Part; WSIS-II/PC-2/DOC/3-E
Add.1(Rev.1) <br><br>
Thank you Madam Chairperson,<br><br>
People with disabilities are poorest among the poors in particular in
developing countries. Affordable<br>
ICTs need to be accessible and usable for individuals with disabilities
to guarantee full<br>
participation in the community as active partners. So far, ICTs in many
cases created new man-made<br>
barriers for persons with disabilities in developing countries in terms
of affordability,<br>
accessibility and usability.<br>
For example, a screen reading software for blind people prices US1,000
per license in addition to the<br>
standard computer equipment, an intelligent keyboard for persons with
cognitive/intellectual<br>
disabilities costs more than US1,000 per unit even though assistive
technology manufacturers are<br>
strongly encouraged to reduce the cost.<br><br>
Promotion of low cost assistive technologies and accessibility standard
development for mainstream<br>
ICTs are keys to realize the <br>
$B!H(Bdigital opportunities$B!I(B for persons with disabilities.
Inclusive and universal access to ICTs<br>
requires development of assistive technologies and universal design as
stipulated in the Geneva<br>
Declaration of Principles.<br><br>
Therefore I would like to urge governments, international organizations
and business sectors to<br>
promote existing accessibility standards, such as W3C Web Accessibility
Guidelines for example, and to<br>
encourage development of accessibility standards for persons with
disabilities.<br>
Effective financial mechanisms to promote accessibility standards of
national as well as international<br>
level will include following 3 suggestions:<br><br>
1.<x-tab> </x-tab>Duty/Tax free
requirements for the use of ICTs by persons with disabilities<br>
2.<x-tab> </x-tab>Requirements for
application of government or international donor$B!G(Bs grant<br>
3.<x-tab> </x-tab>Requirements for
procurement<br><br>
Finally, I would like to draw your attention to ongoing recovery process
of Tsunami Disasters and<br>
preparedness issues from disability view point. Tsunami killed more than
300,000 people including<br>
those who could not hear, could not see, could not evacuate, and who
could not react to save their<br>
lives. Those survivors are still struggling against physical as well as
mental injuries including<br>
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).<br><br>
The rescue and recovery activities need to have a seamless transition to
reconstruction stage with<br>
clear vision of safe and inclusive society to prevent another disasters
to come. Early warning system<br>
should provide timely information in accessible format to everybody.
Preparedness including knowledge,<br>
training and support for evacuation for persons with special needs need
to be developed immediately.<br>
Inclusion of persons with disabilities in the disaster preparedness
development is, in fact, the most<br>
effective and economical way to guarantee a safe community for everybody
including foreign travelers.<br>
Because people with disabilities may act as role models of a person in
extreme conditions such as<br>
Tsunami, earth quake, thunderstorm or blackout of the subway.<br><br>
Based on this fact, I would like to propose a special financing
mechanisms to be established for<br>
disaster recovery and preparedness development that is inclusive of
persons with disabilities.<br><br>
Thank you very much Madam Chairperson for your attention.<br><br>
<br>
Hiroshi Kawamura<br>
Disability Caucus Focal Point<br>
The DAISY Consortium Representative for WSIS<br>
hkawa@attglobal.net<br><br>
<br>
</font></blockquote></html>