The Global Disability Summit

“The pandemic not only deprioritised lives and rights of persons with disabilities, not only pushed millions of persons with disabilities into poverty, but also reminded us that discrimination is very present with us,” said Yannis Vardakastanis, President of the International Disability Alliance.

GENEVA (PRWEB)
February 17, 2022

Governments and other organisations from around the world came together at the online event and pledged to improve the lives of people with disabilities. Many announced new policies and funding. While the first Summit in 2018 was a real pacesetter with over 400 participants and 968 commitments, the second Summit is taking this higher and further, with more than 7000 participants and more than 1250 commitments.

• 
  By the end of the first day, commitments were made by more than 10 countries towards disability rights.
• Speakers included the hosts, the Governments of Norway and Ghana and the International Disability Alliance (IDA); the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres; and representatives of 17 governments.
• Seven UN agencies attended and committed to change the way they include people with disabilities into their work.

The virtual two-day Summit is the world’s biggest gathering of global leaders and disability rights activists and organisations dedicated to commit to change for people with disabilities. It is a vital opportunity for commitments to improve the rights of the world’s one billion people with disabilities, who were disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the first day participants discussed the rights and priorities of people with disabilities in areas ranging from humanitarian disasters and climate change to employment and sexual and reproductive rights.

Some of the key commitments made were:

• The USA made 23 commitments on disability rights. This is the first time the country has made commitments at the Summit. USAID Administrator, Samantha Power said, “As we continue to build back better, we will ensure that we deal everybody in and bring everyone along”.
• Norway launched its first disability inclusion strategy, including increasing opportunities for people with disabilities in the job market and their priorities in disaster risk reduction and climate change adaption. It also pledged to include disability legislation in its domestic law.
• The UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office announced 18 new commitments including a new disability inclusion strategy up to 2030 and funding for the Global Action on Disability (GLAD) Network.
• Australia will develop a new policy to promote and protect the human rights of all people with disabilities, including through its development cooperation programme.
• Malawi committed to adopt a Zero Rejection Policy at all levels of education in-line with provisions of the Disability Act, the Malawi Constitution and the UN The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) by 2022.
• Denmark will work to combat gender-based violence in crises. As the global lead of Call to Action on Protection Against Gender-Based Violence in Emergencies 2021-2022, Denmark is committed to advocating for the inclusion of people with disabilities in efforts against gender-based violence in humanitarian contexts.
• The European Union promised €5 million in funding for the UN Partnership on the Rights of People with Disabilities (UNPRPD).
• IDA committed to promoting leadership of underrepresented groups of persons with disabilities and to delivering technical assistance on disability-inclusive development and humanitarian action to donors and the UN system.
• Save the Children made 12 new commitments including to support organization of children and youth with disabilities to strengthen and amplify their self-advocacy, to engage in public policy discussions and to become partners in their own right.

In his welcome to the Summit, Jonas Gahr Støre, Prime Minister of Norway said, “If the Sustainable Development Goals are to be achieved – and they are to be achieved – social and economic development must be rights based and disability inclusive. We must leave no-one behind”.

The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo, added that inclusion of people with disabilities “cannot just be about economics. It has to be about equality and social justice, and above all, it must be about our humanity… We must tackle disability exclusion head on and do so with a sense of emergency”.

Yannis Vardakastanis, President of IDA, outlined the relevancy of the Summit by saying, “the pandemic not only deprioritised lives and rights of persons with disabilities, not only pushed millions of persons with disabilities into poverty, but also reminded us that discrimination is very present with us. Against this background we are gathering today and tomorrow to reposition disability rights once again on the right track”.

The second Global Disability Summit will continue tomorrow (17 February 2022). This year’s event is entirely virtual and is being live-streamed from Norway.

More information along with the up-to-date agenda can be found online, and anyone can take part in the Summit at: http://www.globaldisabilitysummit.org

For updates and live announcements follow us on Twitter at: @GDS_Disability, #CommitToChange and #GDS2022

Share article on social media or email:

Greg May Hyundai offers up to $1,000 towards the cost of adaptive equipment.

WACO, Texas (PRWEB)
February 16, 2022

There is some great news for the drivers near Waco, Texas, who are planning to purchase adaptive equipment for the Hyundai vehicle. Greg May Hyundai offers up to $1,000 towards the cost of adaptive equipment. Select new and unused Hyundai vehicles sold or leased to a retail customer by the Greg May Hyundai dealership are eligible for reimbursement under this program. This offer is valid from April 1, 2021 to Jan. 2, 2023.

Any aftermarket alterations or equipment installation that provides the user convenient access and/or the ability to drive an eligible Hyundai vehicle will be applicable for reimbursement. After the vehicle is purchased and adaptive equipment is installed, the following documents should be submitted along with the claim form: the purchase agreement or sales contract, itemized and paid invoice(s) stating the customer’s full name, the eligible Hyundai vehicle and the Hyundai Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) from the adaptive equipment company, vehicle’s registration and documentation from a medical professional stating the purpose of the equipment. These documents along with the claim form must be printed and mailed to Hyundai Motor America, Incentives Department, 10550, Talbert Avenue, Fountain Valley, CA, 92708.

Eligible customers can get a mobility reimbursement of up to $1,000 of the total equipment and labor costs. To learn more about this offer, please visit the official website of Greg May Hyundai or quickly visit in person at Greg May Hyundai, 1501 West Loop 340, Waco, Texas, 76712. Interested parties can also contact their customer care team on 254-327-1616 for any further information.

Share article on social media or email:

SPRING, Texas (PRWEB)
February 16, 2022

Thomas Rice, the CEO of Nikolas House, a facility that will specialize in the care of all children with special needs, has completed his new book “My Destiny”: a powerful and inspiring tale of one father’s experiences raising a special needs child, and how it led to the discovery of his calling.

“Sometimes in life, no matter how hard you try, you cannot get away from what is meant to be,” shares Rice. “This book entitled ‘My Destiny’ is my story of how I felt when I was purposefully chosen not only to raise a child with special needs but also to share my experiences of what I’ve learned so that other families need not spend their valuable time combing through information online to find where to get help for their child.”

Published by Page Publishing, Thomas Rice’s potent tale of one parent’s unending love for their child eventually led him to understand his true purpose in life, which was to create a facility to care for special needs children of all ages that would become Nikolas’s House. Through his various experiences, Rice shares his story with readers everywhere as an incredible resource for parents of special needs children and how to navigate the medical community and utilize the different resources available to them.

Readers who wish to experience this irreverent work can purchase “My Destiny” at bookstores everywhere, or online at the Apple iTunes Store, Amazon, Google Play, or Barnes and Noble.

For additional information or media inquiries, contact Page Publishing at 866-315-2708.

About Page Publishing:

Page Publishing is a traditional, full-service publishing house that handles all the intricacies involved in publishing its authors’ books, including distribution in the world’s largest retail outlets and royalty generation. Page Publishing knows that authors need to be free to create, not mired in logistics like eBook conversion, establishing wholesale accounts, insurance, shipping, taxes, and so on. Page’s accomplished writers and publishing professionals allow authors to leave behind these complex and time-consuming issues and focus on their passion: writing and creating. Learn more at http://www.pagepublishing.com.

Share article on social media or email:

Bringing together governments, businesses, civil society, the Global Disability Summit is a pivotal moment for the world to commit to change and do more to include people with disabilities.

“The Global Disability Summit is an opportunity for all of us to make progress towards a world where everyone is included and can access their human rights,” said Vladimir Cuk, Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance.

GENEVA (PRWEB)
February 15, 2022

Bringing together governments, businesses, development professionals, and Organisations for People with Disabilities (OPDs), the Global Disability Summit is a pivotal moment for the world to commit to change and do more to include people with disabilities.

This is the second-ever global summit on strengthening the inclusion of people with disabilities and it will build on the progress made in the wake of the first Global Disability Summit in London in 2018. Throughout the summit more than 1,544 new commitments to disability rights will be announced by organisations and governments in more than 150 countries.

The number of people with disabilities is estimated to be around 15% of the world’s population, around one billion people, and 80% live in low- and middle-income countries. Despite this, millions of people with disabilities still face stigma, discrimination, and barriers to full-participation in society. People with disabilities have also disproportionately been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In his welcome video to the summit, the Prime Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, said, “I am pleased to be co-hosting the Global Disability Summit together with the President of Ghana and the International Disability Alliance. With less than eight years to go before the world is to reach the Sustainable Development Goals, we must ensure that people with disabilities are able to take part in social and economic development on an equal footing with society at large”.

President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has said, “Governments have a solemn obligation to commit to building an inclusive society in which every citizen has the opportunity to develop his or her God-given talent to the fullest. The circumstances of one’s birth cannot and must not be a barrier to any citizen’s participation in – and their benefit from – the process of national development”.

Along with the Prime Ministers of Ghana and Norway, representatives from more than 15 governments will be speaking at the summit and making commitments. International organisations that will be represented include the World Health Organization, the United Nations, UNICEF, USAID, UNHCR, the Global Partnership for Education, the International Committee of the Red Cross, Save the Children, the Valuable 500, and the International Labour Organization.

Key facts:

• Over 1,544 commitments to disability rights will be made for GDS 2022.
• This exceeds the 968 commitments made in 2018.
• More than 178 organisations from 151 countries will make commitments.
• Over 300 commitments from governments will be made.
• Commitments will come from all regions of the world: Global (36%), Africa (45%), Asia-Pacific (7%), Europe (6%), Latin America and the Caribbean (3%), Middle East (2%), North America (0.5%).
• More than 2,200 people have registered for the youth Summit and over 4,400 people will virtually attend the main summit.
• Alongside the main summit there are 4 thematic workshops, 4 regional summits, 2 thematic round tables and 91 side events.

Vladimir Cuk, Executive Director of the International Disability Alliance, said, “The global COVID-19 pandemic has not only shown us that we are all connected, but has also highlighted the devastating inequalities faced by people with disabilities. We must do more to include the world’s 1.2 billion people with disabilities, who cannot and will not be ignored. The Global Disability Summit is an opportunity for all of us to make progress towards a world where everyone is included and can access their human rights”.

The second Global Disability Summit will be held on 16-17 February 2022. This year’s summit will be entirely virtual and is being live-streamed from Norway.

Organisations of Persons with Disabilities have played an important role in the design, implementation, and follow-up of the summit.

More information along with the up-to-date agenda can be found online, and anyone can take part in the summit at: http://www.globaldisabilitysummit.org

For updates and live announcements follow us on Twitter at: @GDS_Disability, #CommitToChange and #GDS2022

-END-

About the Global Disability Summit

The Global Disability Summit Secretariat was established to monitor the implementation of the commitments made at the first Global Disability Summit and the commitments that will be made in the future. It works to provide substantive inputs and coordination of the organization of the Global Disability Summits.

In July 2018, the UK Department for International Development, alongside the Government of Kenya and the International Disability Alliance, organised the first ever Global Disability Summit in London. The summit in London succeeded in placing the issue of rights-based, disability-inclusive development on the international agenda.

The Oslo Summit in 2022 will seek new commitments and concrete action to accelerate inclusive development, through access, engagement and equality. The Summit will mobilise efforts to further the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) in line with the principle of leaving no one behind, and to build back better and more inclusively in the post-Covid-19 recovery.

The Secretariat has established an accountability mechanism to follow the implementation of commitments, supporting stakeholders to achieve the promises they made.

The themes for the 2022 summit are:

1.    Capacity-strengthening of organisations of persons with disabilities in the Global South

2.    Inclusive Education

3.    Inclusive Health

4.    Inclusive Employment and Livelihoods

5.    Inclusion in situations of crises and conflict, including a focus on climate change

•     Gender is a cross-cutting theme.

Consultations

In 2020-2021, IDA, its members, and partners were able to organize 27 national and 1 regional consultations with organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) in 26 countries, 23 different spoken and sign languages, for a total of 840 people attending. Of the participants, 56% were women, 23% were indigenous peoples and 38% were from underrepresented groups of persons with disabilities.

Share article on social media or email:

“By sharing my story of growing up with a facial difference and the inspirational stories of others, the myFace Wonder Project brings to life the book’s central themes of acceptance and inclusion in real, meaningful, and teachable ways.” – Dina Zuckerberg, myFace Director of Family Programs

NEW YORK (PRWEB)
February 14, 2022

Over the past ten years, since its original publication on February 14, 2012, R.J. Palacio’s #1 New York Times bestselling book WONDER has taught readers of all ages the power of empathy, compassion, and “choosing kind.” This inspirational story has been embraced by millions of children and adults around the world – in schools, bookstores, communities, and organizations – including myFace, a leading nonprofit dedicated to transforming the lives of individuals and families with craniofacial conditions just like the hero from Palacio’s book, Auggie Pullman. myFace recognized the power of Palacio’s story to change the way people think about differences, and as a result, launched the myFace Wonder Project in 2015. This program brings Palacio’s message into schools nationwide, and has reached over 60,000 students in the U.S. to date.

Today, myFace and Random House Children’s Books are pleased to announce a new partnership that will expand the reach of this school program for the 2021-2022 academic year, educating students in primary schools on the importance of celebrating uniqueness, being an upstander, and always choosing to be kind, with a variety of resources and activities. Participating schools receive a virtual assembly led by Dina Zuckerberg, myFace Director of Family Programs, featuring a program that encourages students to consider how individual decisions impact others, and how their own choices can help shape society.

The program focuses on the study and acceptance of differences – particularly facial differences – through thought-provoking classroom materials (such as “Choose Kindness” activity sheets, lesson plans, morning announcements, and “Upstander” Pledge Cards), and interactive teaching strategies to build students’ understanding of different perspectives and critical reading and thinking skills. A key professional development aspect of the project involves helping teachers create classroom environments that allow for the safe discussion of sensitive issues such as prejudice and bullying. Students walk away with a new perspective and ability to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, and a commitment to “choosing kind!”

“With students across the country reading WONDER, we were inspired to bring the myFace Wonder Project to schools to teach about differences, kindness and being an upstander,” says myFace Director of Family Programs, Dina Zuckerberg. “Through sharing my story of growing up with a facial difference and the inspirational stories of others, we bring to life the book’s central themes of acceptance and inclusion in real, meaningful, and teachable ways.”

Beau, a 5th Grader at Green Vale Elementary School in Old Brookville, NY, shares:

“Thank you so much for your informative presentation and for sharing your experience with us and teaching us about craniofacial differences. Our class has signed a pledge to ‘Choose Kind.’ We will stick to our word and we will not be bystanders, but upstanders. I love what you are doing there at myFace and how you are helping other people with facial differences.”

In celebration of the book’s forthcoming tenth anniversary, the WONDER: ILLUSTRATED EDITION will be released on February 15, 2022 from Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books. This beautiful color illustrated edition includes over twenty-five pieces of original art from Tad Carpenter, the artist behind the original cover. The book also includes an essay from R.J. Palacio reflecting on ten years of WONDER as well as an introduction by myFace Director of Family Programs, Dina Zuckerberg.

Given that a child is born in the United States with a craniofacial difference every hour, and the faces of another 100,000 individuals are disfigured through accident or disease, the themes in WONDER ring just as true today as they did 10 years ago.

To learn more about how you can bring the myFace Wonder Project to your community or school, please visit http://www.myface.org/wonder.

For a deeper look into the impact WONDER has had on the craniofacial community in the past decade, listen to “Celebrating 10 Years of Wonder,” a recent episode of the myFace, myStory: Voices from the Craniofacial Community podcast series, which was broadcasted on January 19, 2022. In the program, host Dina Zuckerberg, myFace Director of Family Programs, is joined by R.J. Palacio, myFace Trustee Sondra Neuschotz (who was born with a cleft lip and whose children were also born with cleft lip and palate), and myFace Wonder Project participant, educator Mary Butters, to share what the book has meant to each of them. To learn more, visit http://www.myface.org/WonderAnniversary.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Katie Bazyluk

myFace Communications Manager

Katie@myFace.org

Kristopher Kam

Random House Children’s Books Publicity Manager

KKam@penguinrandomhouse.com

# # #

myFace (myface.org) has advocated for individuals and families to ensure them access to comprehensive craniofacial care and support for more than 70 years. By providing important services such as emotional support groups, educational webinars, podcasts, online resources, and more, myFace helps individuals with facial differences achieve the best possible outcomes. Visit us online at @myFaceOrg, Facebook.com/myFaceFoundation, and subscribe to our newsletter at myface.org/newsletter.

R.J. Palacio is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Wonder, which has sold over 13 million copies worldwide. The book’s message inspired the Choose Kind movement and has been embraced by readers around the world, with the book published in over 50 languages. Wonder was made into a blockbuster movie starring Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson, and Jacob Tremblay. Palacio’s other New York Times bestselling books include Pony, 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne’s Book of Precepts, Auggie & Me: Three Wonder Stories, the picture book We’re All Wonders, and the graphic novel White Bird, which is currently being filmed as a major motion picture starring Gillian Anderson and Helen Mirren. Palacio lives in Brooklyn with her husband, two sons, and two dogs.

Random House Children’s Books (rhcbooks.com) is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, and nonfiction, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Penguin Random House LLC.

Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers is an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Visit us online at @RandomHouseKids | Facebook.com/RandomHouseKids | RHCBooks.com