COMMONWEALTH DISABLED PEOPLES’ FORUM

A New Voice Shouts to the Commonwealth - Nothing About us Without Us

Youth and adults with disabilities from 16 Commonwealth countries came together from 15-17 March, 2008 in London to launch a unique Commonwealth Disabled Peoples’ Forum, the purposes of which will be to provide a link between disabled people’s organisations in all Commonwealth countries and all the political structures of the Commonwealth.

At the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in October 2007 the civil society challenge to CHOGM was to mainstream disability in sustainable development, to ratify the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and to adopt disability inclusive policies. This cannot be achieved without a strong, democratic forum of disabled youth and adults to ensure implementation.

We had a vibrant and dynamic series of meetings to consolidate the vision, constitution and activities of the Forum . The youth met separately to devise their own creative methods of self representation and organisation. We came together in a final agreement of how to go forward together. It is essential that the voice of young persons with disabilities is heard clearly in the work of the CDPF. They are the future leaders and builders of our shared vision of a Commonwealth built on equality, human rights and respect for diversity.

The major focus of our work in the next two years, including a major conference before CHOGM in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009, will be to ensure that Commonwealth countries sign, ratify and implement the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability. As Rachel Kachaje said at the Launch of the CDPF, hosted by the Commonwealth Foundation at Marlborough House,

‘Disabled people see that hope springs out of the convention – hope for a new, inclusive world where disabled people can be seen as fully human’.

The following individuals were elected to the CDPF Executive Committee to manage the organization for a two-year term:

  1. James Mwandha (Uganda), Chair

  2. George Daniel (Trinidad and Tobago), Vice Chair

  3. Javed Abidi (India), Secretary

  4. Richard Rieser (UK), Treasurer

  5. Rachel Kachaje, (Malawi), Woman's Representative

  6. Laura Kanusu (Uganda), Youth Representative

  7. George Kasara (Kenya), Youth Representative

  8. Ghulam Nabi Nizaamani (Pakistan), South Asia Region Representative

  9. Setareki Macanawai (Fiji), South East Asia Region Representative

  10. Leslie Emanuel (Antigua and Barbuda), Caribbean Region Representative

  11. Steve Estey (Canada), Australia Britain Canada New Zealand (ABCN) Region Representative

  12. Thomas Ongolo, (South Africa) Africa Region Representative

The Commonwealth Disabled Peoples’ Forum will be registered in New Delhi, India and will apply for accreditation with the Commonwealth Secretariat.