THE EBU
EBU conference on the UN Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities
“Making the UN
convention work for visually impaired women”
March 26th
to 28th 2010,
54 Women from 19 EBU member organisations
including representatives from the EBU Rights commission, the Mobility and
Transport commission and the board, participating in this EBU conference have
adopted the following EBU declaration calling for concrete action in seven
priority areas:
1.
General
EBU in its effort to promote the ratification
and implementation of the UN convention urges its member organisations to offer
adequate information and training to blind and partially sighted women to know
their rights, to participate in lobbying activities, monitoring structures and
if applicable in the translation into national languages, using the material
developed by the EBU Rights commission.
2.
Creative skills
Creative skills are equally important as other skills
and are to be promoted and included in any rehabilitation, vocational and
skills training programmes.
3.
Life-long learning
Life-long learning is essential for the
development and personal growth of each individual. Access to life-long
learning is to be guaranteed, especially for blind and partially sighted women
by earmarking budgets and projects to this end.
4.
Employment
The three most important success factors for
visually impaired women to participate in the labour market are, according to research:
education, job training and personal motivation. Thereby
special emphasis is necessary on the specific needs and wishes of visually
impaired women, and on compatibility of training with the job-market demands.
New possibilities for self-employment are to be explored and promoted by EBU.
Lobby activities are to be developed for favorable conditions for visually
impaired women to start their own small businesses.
5.
Balancing work and private life
Conditions are to be created that make it possible
for visually impaired women to be able to have a real choice to study, work and
have a family/private life. The right to parenthood, the right to a decent
income and to ´equal pay for equal work´ is always to be kept in mind when
lobbying for the UN convention implementation.
6.
Access to health care
Access to health care is to be guaranteed when
implementing the UN convention, with emphasis on the specific needs of blind
and partially sighted women regarding safe transport, accessible information, accessible
buildings, receiving all necessary support for using the health services. Each
visually impaired woman has the right to privacy protection and to clear and
full informed consent - and is to be informed of these rights by the entities
offering the health services. Training of health professionals herein is to be
offered by the national organizations of EBU.
7.
Combating Violence
Every visually impaired woman must be informed
of her rights to live without violence and to claim this right through the legal
system. All the key players in the field of combating violence are to be
informed of the specific needs of blind and partially sighted women. Research
is a condition to make this serious problem visible, to start raising awareness
and take appropriate action.
Summary
Raising awareness, building alliances and
partnerships with key players, promoting the specific needs and incorporating
them in already existing programs and policies, conducting gender and age
differentiated research and educating social and political actors as well as
the visually impaired women themselves, are all essential for making the UN
convention work for blind and partially sighted women.
But only with a commitment of all it can make a
real difference in the lives of many.