Agenda
The disability movement in Liberia including the National Commission on Disability (NCD), The National Union of Organizations for the Disabled (NUOD) in collaboration with its international organization partners; AIFO and Handicap international, will host a 3 day international seminar from on disability with the theme: ‘Making Equal Participation in Development a Reality in Liberia’ February 22 to 24, 2012.
Liberia, still recovering from a devastating civil war, is now gradually moving towards development in many sectors including infrastructure, economic, decentralization and participatory decision making processes. However, mainstreaming disability in these sectors remains the greatest challenge for the relevant stakeholders, particularly the disability movement in Liberia.
The seminar is therefore aimed at discussing best practices of promoting inclusive development in all sectors in Liberia. This is achievable through looking critically at the challenges and opportunities in Liberia and build on the experiences and lessons learnt in other countries that are making tremendous progress in making development initiatives inclusive. The International guests are expected from Sierra Leone, Kenya, Uganda and Italy. Topics for discussion during the seminar will include:
Legal provisions for persons with disabilities
Equal political participation and formal representation
Inclusive development and human rights
Gender perspectives on disability
Community based strategies
Strengthening regional networks
Role of the civil society in turning rights in affirmative actions
Decentralization and poverty reduction strategies
It is hope that proceedings and presentations from the seminar will be documented and widely disseminated.