Press Release – 5th Meeting of the Task Force on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community, 5-6 February 2018, Jakarta, Indonesia
The Task Force on the Mainstreaming of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in the ASEAN Community convenes its 5th meeting on 5-6 February 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Following up to its last meeting, the Task Force which comprises of representatives of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) and the ASEAN Commission on the Promotion an Protection of the Rights of Women and Children (ACWC) deliberates on the first draft of the ASEAN Enabling Masterplan 2025: Mainstreaming the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (MRPD). The Masterplan seeks to complement the implementation of ASEAN Member States’s commitments towards achieving an inclusive community as reaffirmed in the ASEAN Community Vision 2025 and the ASEAN Community Blueprints 2025.
On the second day, the Task Force had an interface with a representative of ASEAN Disability Forum (ADF), where ADF highlighted challenges faced by persons with disabilities, and emphasised on empowerment of persons with disabilities and ensuring enabling environment in achieving inclusive society.
The Task Force also met with Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN for Community and Corporate Affairs, Dr. A.K.P Mochtan. The Meeting was informed that the new ASEAN Secretariat building would incorporate universal design, and that the ASEAN Secretariat is revising its employment policies to be inclusive. DSG Mochtan further reaffirmed the ASEAN Secretariat’s commitment in mainstreaming the rights of persons with disabilities, including to communicate the Masterplan to the broader public.
The Meeting was co-chaired by Dr. Seree Nonthasoot, Representative of Thailand to the AICHR and Mr. Richard Tan, SOMSWD Focal Point of Singapore, with the support of the Government of Japan through the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF).
The next meeting of the Task Force is scheduled in March 2018.