Roughly about ten percent of the population in Latin America face some form of disability. However, they should not also have to face economic, social and political exclusion. Including persons with disabilities in development policies and projects has been largely justified on human rights grounds. The economic and social benefits have been underplayed while, as with other dimensions of human rights, they are substantial. The seminar aims to raise awareness of Latin American leaders and decision makers of the importance of policies that seek the inclusion of persons with disabilities for advancing modern societies, and of the good economic and social sense they make. It also aims to disseminate best practices; increase the Bank's role in the process of opening opportunities by utilizing the Bank's lending and non-lending vehicles; and foster private-public sector alliances. The seminar is structured in a dialogue format, where government leaders, experts, representatives from business and the media, as well as activists and concerned citizens explore ways to level the playing field for persons with disabilities in two major clusters: (a) education and the labor market; and (b) infrastructure, transport, and urban design.
Contact: Mayra Buvinic - mayrab@iadb.org
____________________________________________________________________________________________
1:30 p.m.- 2:00 p.m.
Registration
____________________________________________________________________________________
2:00 p.m.- 3:00 p.m.
Opening session: Benefits of Investing in People with Disabilities
Alejandra Krauss Valle, Minister for Planning and Cooperation, Chile
Pertti Juhani Majanen, Under-Secretary of State for International Development Cooperation, Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Finland
Maria Minna, Minister for International Cooperation, Canada
Nohra Rey de Marulanda, Manager, Integration and Regional Programs Department, Inter-American Development Bank
General Moderator: Mayra Buvinic, Chief, Social Development Division, Sustainable Development Department, Inter-American Development Bank
____________________________________________________________________________________
3:00 p.m.-4:30 p.m.
Roundtable I: Strategies to Expand Access to Education and Labor Markets
This dialogue explores the role of public policy and includes presentations on initiatives to expand access to people with disabilities in education and the labor market.
Coordinator: Rosangela Berman-Bieler, Executive Director, Inter-American Institute on Disabilities, Brazil
Moderator: Alejandro Guiller, Reporter, Channel 11, Chile
Panelists:
Ricardo Solari, Minister of Labor, Chile
Patrick Worth, Founder, People First, Canada
Rafael de Lorenzo, Vice President, ONCE Foundation, Spain
Liisa Kauppinen, President, World Federation of the Deaf, Finland
Décio Goldfarb, President, Teletón Foundation, Brazil
Robert Metts, Chief Executive Officer, Disability Policy and Planning Institute, United States
Gilberto Rincón Gallardo, Coordinator, Comisión Ciudadana de Estudios contra la Discriminación, Mexico
____________________________________________________________________________________
4:30 p.m. Break
____________________________________________________________________________________
5:00 p.m.-6:15 p.m.
Roundtable II: Strategies to Improve Accessibility for Infrastructure and Urban Design Projects
This dialogue explores how to expand access to people with disabilities in urban environment, urban transportation, communications, and the internet, and it highlights the role of public policy.
Coordinator: Silvia Sagari, Chief, Infrastructure and Financial Market Division
Finance and Basic Infrastructure Division, Regional Operations Department 1, IDB
Moderator: Carolina Jiménez, Reporter, Channel 13, Chile
Panel:
Eduardo Alvarez, Architect, Instituto Uruguayo de Normas Técnicas, Uruguay
Billie Miller, Deputy Prime Minister, Barbados
Tom Rickert, Executive Director, Access Exchange International, United States
Francisco Ortíz-Chaparro, Representative, Telefonica de España, Spain
Lucy Wong Hernandez, Executive Director, Disabled People's International, United States
Paulina Cavada, Architect, University of Chile, Chile
____________________________________________________________________________________
6:15 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
New Alliances to Strengthen the Development and Inclusion for People with Disabilities: Launching of ORITEL
IDB Video
Presentations:
Enrique V. Iglesias, President, Inter-American Development Bank
Luisa Durán de Lagos, First Lady, Chile
Mario Kreutzberger, TV host and Director, ORITEL
____________________________________________________________________________________
