White House supports U N Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

AP Photo/Alex Brandon

In a ceremony that was timed to commemorate the nineteenth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990, Obama made a pledge to make equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities a keystone of his foreign policy.

On Friday July 25, President Obama signed a proclamation affirming his administration’s support for the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This global proclamation is described by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as “a blueprint for ending discrimination” around the world.

The UN treaty calls on all countries to guarantee equal benefits, protection, and justice for individuals with disabilities around the world. 140 others nations will join with the US next week to sign the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The proclamation will then proceed to the US Senate for approval.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton summed up the administration’s position on unequal rights for individuals with disabilities. “Discrimination against people with disabilities isn’t only an injustice; it is a strain on economic development, a limit to democracy, a burden on families, and a cause of social erosion.”

Approximately 25% or 54 million Americans live with some type of disability.

Obama listed his administration’s measures in the area of rights for individuals with disabilities:

• Doubled funding for individuals with disabilities education act
• Lifted the ban on stem cell research
• Beefed up a children’s health insurance program, continuing to cover 7 million children and adding coverage for an additional 4 million children, including children with disabilities
• Signed Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act, to aid individuals living with paralysis
• Strengthened enforcement of anti-discrimination of laws
• Started a new assistant position at the Department of Transportation to make transportation more accessible
• Launched the Year of Community Living to affirm the right of individuals with disabilities to live wherever they choose

President Obama stated that he will continue to work “…until every American with a disability can learn in their local public school in the manner best for them…”

Click here to see a C-SPAN video of the signing ceremony.

A study on accidents by World Health Organisation (WHO), Harvard University and World Bank.

Road accidents would move to the third place in the table of leading causes of death and disability by 2020, according to a study by World Health Organisation (WHO), Harvard University and World Bank.

To create more awareness and engaging corporates towards road safety, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Southern Region, had organised a day-long seminar on `Road Safety — Engaging Corporates’ here on Friday.

Inaugurating the seminar, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security) Praveen Sood said that lack of sincerity among the motorists was the root cause of most traffic violations and not lack of proper awareness.

"The traffic department is in the process of introducing nonintrusive and evidence-based law enforcement. Efforts are on to computerise all RTO branches and traffic stations, so that offenders can be tracked and traffic tickets dispatched to the vehicle owner’s address,’’ Sood informed.

Managing Director of Praxair India Private Limited Gajanan Nabar said that India currently had the dubious distinction of being ranked first in the number of road accidents.

“In Bangalore, 40 per cent of road fatalities were two-wheeler riders and 23 per cent were pedestrians,’’ stated Nabar and added that the major factors contributing to accidents were negligence by road-users, poor road conditions and unsafe or poorly maintained vehicles.

Punj Lloyd Limited Deputy General Manager Mukesh Arora said that non-uniformity in methods of traffic control and placement of signs increased confusion among road-users.

"Majority of vehicle drivers are, at best, only semi-literate,’’ he added.

Arora said that a good road safety device should be bright, placed properly, uniform and durable, which helped in improving road safety. He stressed the importance of self-discipline among motorists.

On the occasion, Praveen Sood launched a FM radiobased media campaign on 'lane discipline and use of indicators’ catering to Bangaloreans.

The campaign is a joint venture by CII and the Bangalore City Traffic Police and is a radio jingle that portrays the illeffects of negligent driving combined with a message asking the listeners to observe lane discipline and use indicators wherever needed.

SAARC tour by disabled for world peace

With the messages of global peace and harmony, a group of specially-abled people has set out on a tour across the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries.

The SAARC is an economic and political organization of eight countries in Southern Asia.

There are six volunteers including four on wheel chair. They got their pass for the world tour from the Nepal Ministry of foreign affairs. They started off from Kathmandu and will pass through India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and even Afghanistan if possible.

Santosh Yadab, a physically disabled member in the group feels, that there should be peace everywhere.

“Presently the world is caught in vortex of violence. We are on a peace walk. We want to make an appeal to the people around us to stop harming each other. Our sole purpose of this walk is that we want there to be peace everywhere,” Yadab added.

The World Peace tour will conclude in 3 years and 9 months.