2008 AGM

The AGM will be held on Friday 17th October at Mt Macedon, Victoria. More information to follow

MARYANNE DIAMOND

One of our Directors, Maryanne is now the President of World Blind Union. Congratulations Maryanne - we are proud of you. Maryanne is pictured here with Treasurer Bill Jolley at a Directors meeting in 2007

PNG NEWS

Dan Stubbs visited PNG in August,met with the PNG National Assembly Of Disabled Persons and signed a partnership agreement between APIDS and the Assembly. Dan is pictured here with Tole Wia.

The latest edition of the The National newsletter is jam packed with information and stories about PNG. Happy reading.Click here to download this file


EIGHT PARTNER DPOS

APIDS is pleased to announce that we now have eight partner DPOs in the Pacific. They are:

Fiji Disabled Peoples Association
Te Toa Matoa (Kiribati)
PNG National Assembly Of Disabled Persons
Nuanua O Le Alofa Inc (Samoa)
Disabled Peoples Association of Solomon Islands
Kra’as Hadomi Timor Oan (Timor Leste)
Naunau ‘o e Alamaite Tonga Association
Disability Promotion & Advocacy Association (Vanuatu)

APIDS SUBMISSION TO THE DISABILITY TASK FORCE - Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID)- APIDS has provided a submission in response to the Consultation Paper. Our approach is that
"It is imperative that AusAID must resource the Disabled Peoples Organisations to undertake this education and awareness within their own countries. They are the ones with knowledge of how to increase knowledge and understanding within their own culture. Of course this process cannot be undertaken quickly, and as with many other development processes, results cannot be achieved in one or two years"

The full submission is available in Word formatClick here to download this file
or as a PDFClick here to download this file

DPA in Vanuatu have also completed a submission, which you can read here.Click here to download this file

ADDC CONFERENCE - Not many places left now for ADDC's September 29 -30 Conference 'Disability Disadvantage and Development in the Pacific and Asia'. To be held at the National Museum of Australia, Canberra.

To register go to: www.ors.net.au/addc.html


WWDA NEWS

Women With Disabilities Australia are tireless in their advocacy work.Women With Disabilities Australia Response to the Australian Government’s Consultation on the National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children is available in the attached document.Click here to download this file

A NEW RESOURCE ON THE CONVENTION

The Harvard Project on Disability has published the Handbook with an easy to read explanation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. This publication is designed for anyone wanting a clear explanation of the CRPD, including people with intellectual disabilities, their organizations, and their advocates.

It is available at:
www.hpod.org/pdf/we-have-humna-rights.pdf

Other resources on the new Convention can be found on the Links and Resources page under the section on the United Nations

NEWS FROM APIDS – May 2008

Hello to members and supporters

This year is proving to be a very exciting one in the life of APIDS. With a new government in power in Canberra, there are exciting new opportunities for people with disabilities in the Pacific. And at the same time the Australian Disability and Development Consortium (ADDC) has been very busy. But before we talk about the external scene, there are developments within APIDS too.

Members
At May 23rd 2008, APIDS has 76 Individual members, 2 Organisational
Associate members and 1 Individual Associate member.

The rest of the newsletter follows in the following PDF document.Click here to download this file


UNICEF - A HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH TO EDUCATION

The following PDF publication is a joint UNESCO and UNICEF framework for the realisation of children’s right to education and rights within education. The publication brings together the current thinking and practice on human rights-based approach in the education sector. It presents key issues and challenges in rights-based approaches and provides a framework for policy and programme development from the level of the school up to the national and international levels.(Thanks to DPI-AP for this news)Click here to download this file

LINKS AND RESOURCES PAGE

You will find many other interesting links on our Links and Resources page. It was updated on July 11TH 2008.

PACIFIC DISABILITY FORUM(PDF)

PDF has produced their February 2008 newsletter. A PDF copy is available.Click here to download this file


MOTIVATION

The latest newsletter from Motivation focuses on Asia Pacific - it features articles and photos of people with disabilities in PNG and Timor Leste. A PDF copy is available.Click here to download this file


FUNDING TO PARTNERS

At a meeting in April, Directors agreed to provide grants to four DPO’s. These are:

$300 to Disabled Peoples’ Association of Solomon Islands for production and distribution of a newsletter. The $300 Australian converted to $1860 in the Solomons currency.
$300 to Disability Promotion & Advocacy Association (Vanuatu) for sign language classes.
$500 to Fiji Disabled Peoples Association (FDPA) for the costs of operating the office in Suva.
$300 to Te Toa Matoa (Kiribati) for running a workshop on handicrafts, such as the making of doormats and fishing stick nets. The products made will be sold and the funds raised used to assist in building a multi-purpose centre for Te Toa Matoa members.

The extra amount to FDPA is in acknowledgement of the resources that were provided in the initial planning stages of APIDS.

Deborah Rhodes, in her travels with her paid work in August, presented A$300 Australian to Savina Nongebatu in the Solomons, and A$300 to Andy Lynch in Vanuatu.

One of our members visited Fiji in late September and presented $650 (Fijian) to Fiji Disabled Peoples Association.It is hoped that funds will be transferred to Kiribati in the next month.



AUSTRALIAN VOLUNTEERS INTERNATIONAL (AVI)


APIDS is working in partnership with to enable people with disabilities to volunteer with three disability support organisations in the Pacific. Shortlisting and first interviews took place in October. One of the jobs is with the Psychiatric Survivors Association of Fiji and this photo is of the Associations' President, Luke.





What is APIDS?

Australia Pacific Islands Disability Support (APIDS) was established as a non-profit company in 2005 to assist disabled peoples’ organisations to contribute towards the alleviation of poverty for people with disabilities in Pacific Island countries. APIDS supports disabled peoples’ organisations to meet the objectives they have prioritized for themselves.



You can donate to APIDS at www.ourcommunity.com.au/apids