Disabled Peoples' International - Asia-Pacific Region

A voice of our own

In Asia-Pacific Region, DPI has Member National Assemblies (MNAs) in 26 countries. For more than a decade, we have made continuing efforts to organize activities that hasten the empowerment of persons with disabilities, particularly in the developing countries.

Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Strengthening Self-help Organizations of Persons with Disabilities
Advocacy
Accessibility
Women with Disabilities
Youth Leadership
Independent Living

Nothing About Us Without Us

"Nothing About Us Without Us" was the motto adopted by Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) at its founding in 1981. The motto has been particularly effective in capturing a key idea of struggle for human rights - self determination is essential for achieving true equality.

This was clearly acknowledged in the 1993 UN Standard Rules on the Equalization of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities. Rule 18 says, "States should recognize the rights of persons with disabilities to represent persons with disabilities at national, regional and local levels. States should also recognize the advisory role of organizations of persons with disabilities in decision-making on disability matters".

The ideas of self-determination and human rights developed and fought for by persons with disabilities in their international disability movement and encapsulated in "Nothing About Us Without Us" are also at the very heart of the new UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities recognizes that "disability results from the interaction between persons with impairments and attitudinal and environmental barriers that hinders their full and effective participation in society on an equal basis with others."

Retrieve from

Equalize it: A Manifesto for Disability Equality in Development Cooperation
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable

Goal

Full participation and equal opportunity of persons with disabilities in society

Mission

To organize and continue to strengthen national assemblies through gender-balanced, cross-disabilities process and to partner with the UN, other international development agencies and governments towards the equalization of opportunities and full participation of persons with disabilities in their own development and development of other communities.

In accordance with the UNESCAP Biwako Millenium Framework (BMF) for the extension of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons (2003-2012), Regional Development Office works towards the resolution of "Promoting an inclusive, barrier-free and rights-based society for people with disabilities in the region" and The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities with the following objectives:

To strengthen the Regional Development Office is to serve as a regional focal point of DPI national assemblies and the disability movement in the region;
To establish new self-help organizations and national assemblies of persons with disabilities in developing countries;
To promote and strengthen the movement and network of women with disabilities at the regional and sub-regional level;
To promote the Independent Living (IL) concept and IL movement, including the establishment of regional IL network;
To promote the barrier-free movement and accessibility to built environments; and
To strengthen and promote international and regional collaboration

Vision

DPI Asia-Pacific envisions:

A person with a disability as one who is educated, socially secure, economically productive and happily living with his/her own family in a barrier-free environment
A DPI-AP National Assembly as an effective, democratic, self-reliant organization of men and women of all disability groups, able to work for the full participation and equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities in every DPI country
DPI-AP as an effective, democratic and gender-sensitive regional organization able to partner with governments and other international agencies for the mobilization of technical and other resources for its members, continuously expanding in terms of cross-disability and country representation

Focus

Promote the human rights of persons with disabilities;
Promote economic and social inclusion of persons with disabilities;
Promote barrier free society;
Develop and support Self help organizations of persons with disabilities

Disabled Peoples' International (DPI) is a world cross-disability, self-help, human rights organization of people with disabilities with member organizations in more than 130 countries worldwide. DPI was established in 1981 to promote human rights of disabled people through full participation, equalization of opportunity and development. We hold special consultative status for the United Nations and have been collaborating with UNESCAP, UNESCO, ILO etc.