World observes ‘Day of Disabled People’ today
By Ali Imran

ISLAMABAD—Like other part of the globe, the International Day of Disabled will be observed across Pakistan on December 3.
The UN General Assembly decided on the World Programme of Action forDisabled People on December 3, 1982. While, the International Day of Disabled, was proclaimed by the UnitedNations General Assembly in 1992.
It was aimed to promote full participation of disabled in social lifeand development as well as prevention and rehabilitation measures. The annual observance of the Day is aimed at creating awareness andunderstanding disability issues and trends and to mobilize support for practical action at all levels, by persons with disabilities.
This year the theme for the day is “E-Accessibility”. People with disabilities do not enjoy access to information and communication technologies to the same extent as non-disabled people. Information is often presented in formats that are not accessible topeople with disabilities, including through the World Wide Web.
Those with disabilities are able and willing to contribute to economic, political and cultural life of their communities, but are facing barriers which must be eliminated to ensure that people withdisabilities, their families and communities can participate to their fullest potential in all aspects of life and in society.
Policies and strategies to bring persons with disabilities into socialand economic mainstream increasingly are recognised as superior from both an economic and a social perspective because of focus onstrengthening capacities of persons with disabilities to make economic contributions. In Pakistan, the systematic care of persons with disabilities was brought into focus in the 1980s with the observance of 1982 as the United Nations International Year of Disabled Persons. The government, under the leadership of President General PervezMusharraf, has finalized the first “National Policy For Persons with Disabilities” aimed at bringing social revolution in the country. Minister of Social Welfare and Special Education in cooboration withconcerned departments and NGOs would arrange a number of activities across the country to mark the day with international community.
In a message, Minister for Social Welfare and Special Education,Zobaida Jalal said the government is committed for the welfare and rehabilitation of special persons as they are important part of thesociety.
She further said the need to make special provision for those membersof the community who suffer from the effects of disabilities has long been recognized in Pakistan. She said creation of special facilities for the education, training and rehabilitation of disabled persons is regarded as being of central importance concerning the rights of a significant percentage of our population.
“Recent years have witnessed emergence of international movements for the empowerment of challenged persons through a number of international conventions and agreements, which make government of Pakistan a partner in the global movement for the betterment of this segment of society”, she added.
Zobaida Jalal said the theme of this years observance of theInternational Day of Disabled Persons, “Accessibility”, reminds us that access to information and communication technologies foster individualsto reach their full potential and for persons with disabilities it allows them to play their part in the development of society. It is, therefore, essentially required to build a people-centered,inclusive and development oriented information society, where everyone can
create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge. This should include the disabled so that they are not at a considerable disadvantage by not being able to access information technologies.
“National Policy for Persons with Disabilities envisions that use ofcomputers for education and training of Persons with Disabilities will be promoted in the public sector education centers catering to the needs of special persons, and private sector will be involved in this systemalongwith the public sector” Zobaida added.
She said options open for the general public in this fast expandingfield will be made available to persons with disabilities; and special attention will be given to the development of assistive technology with the involvement of relevant organizations.
The National Plan of Action to implement the National Policy for Persons with Disabilities launched in April, 2006 includes “Access to Information Communication and Assistive Technology” as one of the major thrust areas. On this International day, We pledge to do our utmost to achieve the goals and targets set out in the Policy and the Plan; and make an appeal to all our partners and stakeholders to extend their helping hand in this endeavour, Zobaida added.