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Equality+20 Campaign commemorates 20 years of India's first disability rights law

India's India's ... Hello brothers and sisters! I want to share important message. With my best and kind regards. Alex Garcia - Deafbllnd Brazilian.

Dear All,

We are happy to inform you of the successful completion of our Equality+20 Campaign to commemorate 20 years of India's first disability rights legislation 'The Disability Act of 1995'. We are overwhelmed by the unprecedented support that this Campaign received and are grateful to all our supporters for making it such a resounding success.

The Campaign, launched in July 2015, aimed to highlight achievements vis-a-vis disability thus far; create a renewed interest in disability rights among the larger population; and generate public opinion towards greater inclusion, equality and empowerment, among others This Campaign included a logo design competition called ‘Signs of the Times’; an Equality+20 conference; a book titled ’20 Stories of Change’; and a ‘Walk to Freedom’.

We received over 100 entries for *Signs of the Times*, out of which Amna Swaleh’s entry was adjudged the winner by a jury comprising Prof. S. Balaram, Dean, D J Academy of Design; Gargi Sharma, Founder and Principal Designer, Changing Sky; and Dr. Sruti Mohapatra, Noted Disability Activist and Chief Executive, Swabhiman.

A two-day nationwide *Conference*, held on 1st and 2nd December, with 150 attendees on each day, was held in Delhi. The participants included leading thinkers and stakeholders working on disability rights, relevant people from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment (Department of Empowerment for People with Disabilities) and other Government officials, and invitees from the Press.

Shri Thaawar Chand Gehlot, Hon’ble Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, formally launched the book ‘*20 Stories of Change’*. Several of the contributors highlighted in the book were profiled in leading local and national dailies, spreading our message across the country. Here is the link to the book < http://dnis.org/20%20Stories%20of%20Change.pdf >.

A symbolic '*Walk to Freedom'* with over 3500 participants was held on 3rd December to commemorate both the occasion of World Disability Day and 20 years of the passage of the Act. The participants included people with disabilities, their friends, families, and supporters. The walk also saw Parliamentarians and other dignitaries come out to show their support towards disability.

All events and initiatives under the Campaign aimed to not just ensure that the disability movement in India achieves the maximum exposure possible (and that too at an opportune time, with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014 still pending in the Parliament), they also attempted to spread awareness about the agendas and imperatives to the farthest reaches of the country.

Read more

National Centre for Promotion of Employment for

Disabled People (NCPEDP)

A -77, South Extension Part II

New Delhi - 110 049, India

Tel.: 91-11-26265647 / 26265648

Websites: www.ncpedp.org and www.dnis.org

Additional Information

Country: India
Website: N/A
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Source: The National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People
When: 27/1/2016

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