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E/RES/1991/8

Establishing and strengthening national coordinating committees on disability or similar bodies.

UN Document Symbol E/RES/1991/8
Convention Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Document Type Resolution
Session 1st Regular of 1991
Type Document
Description

2 p.

Subjects Persons with Disabilities, Braille, Least Developed Countries

Extracted Text

welfare policies so that effective programmes can be set up according to their needs;
"7. Urges the executive secretaries of the regional commissions to give adequate attention to the recommendations for action at the regional level contained in the Guiding Principles;
"8. Stresses the role of non-governmental and voluntary organizations in the implementation of the relevant recommendations of the Guiding Principles, particularly in social crisis management, as reflected in the proceedings of the international expert meeting on the role of voluntary organizations in crisis management: acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), drug abuse and mass migration as cases in point, held at Berlin, from 18 to 22 November 1990;
"9. Urges Member States in all regions to initiate regional expert group meetings devoted to issues raised in the Guiding Principles and to translate their recommendations into specific social policy activities;
"10. Welcomes the idea of holding regional conferences such as the Conference of European Ministers Responsible for Social Affairs, to be held in Czechoslovakia in 1992, and the Fourth Asian and Pacific Ministerial Conference on Social Welfare and Social Development, to be held in the Philippines in October 1991;
"11. Requests the Secretary-General:
"(a) To strengthen the follow-up action to the Interregional Consultation by, inter alia, appropriately reflecting the Guiding Principles in global programmes and events, including the preparations for and observance of the International Year of the Family in 1994;16
"(b) To strengthen advisory services to Governments, especially those of developing countries, focusing on the policy, institution-building capacity, planning, administration and training aspects of developmental social welfare;
"(c) To ensure that the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, which is responsible for monitoring the implementation of the Guiding Principles, is provided with sufficient resources, without incurring additional expenses, through the regular budget of the United Nations, for an effective follow-up to the Interregional Consultation;
"(d) To reflect appropriately resource and programme requirements for monitoring the implementation of the Guiding Principles in the proposed programme budget for the biennium 1992-1993;
"(e) To report to the General Assembly at its forty-eighth session, through the Commission for Social Development and the Economic and Social Council, on the progress achieved in the implementation of and follow-up action to the Guiding Principles and the present resolution;
"12. Decides to consider the question of the implementation of the Guiding Principles at its forty-
See Genera) Assembly resolution -14/82.

eighth session under the item entitled 'Social development'."
12th plenary meeting 30 May 1991
1991/8. Establishing and strengthening national coordinating committees on disability or similar bodies
The Economic and Social Council,
Recalling relevant resolutions in which the General Assembly and the Council requested the Secretary-General to assist Member States in establishing and strengthening national committees on disability or similar coordinating bodies,17 in particular, Assembly resolution 42/58 of 30 November 1987, in which the Assembly also requested the Secretary-General to consider convening during the second half of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, within existing resources, an interregional meeting of representatives of those committees or similar bodies, to enhance their capabilities,
Aware of the important role of national coordinating committees in furthering the implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,18
Noting with concern that the great majority of disabled people live in developing countries and noting especially the deteriorating economic and social conditions of many developing countries, which adversely affect vulnerable groups, including disabled people, and the special difficulties they have in tackling the problems related to disability,
Taking into account the fact that countries have different cultures, customs, traditions and socio-economic levels and that national programmes are most effective when they are best suited to the country's circumstances,
Noting with appreciation the convening of the International Meeting on the Roles and Functions of National Coordinating Committees on Disability in Developing Countries at Beijing from 5 to 11 November 1990,
Having considered the Guidelines for the Establishment and Development of National Coordinating Committees on Disability or Similar Bodies, adopted by the International Meeting, "
1. Requests the Secretary-General to widely disseminate the Guidelines for the Establishment and Development of National Coordinating Committees on Disability or Similar Bodies in all the official languages of the United Nations and in Braille, within existing resources and through voluntary contributions;
2. Also requests the Secretary-General to assist Member States in undertaking follow-up measures, es-
“ General Assembly resolutions 39/26, 40/31, 41/106, 42/58, 43/98, 44/70 and 45/91 and Economic and Social Council resolution 1989/52.
A/37/351/ and Corr. l, annex, sect. VIII, recommendation 1
(IV)
19 See the report on the International Meeting on the Roles and Functions of National Coordinating Committees on Disability in De veloping Countries. Beijing, 5-11 November 1990 (CSDHA/

pecially training seminars, to promote the implementation of the Guidelines;
3. Requests the Secretariat, in particular the regional commissions, to promote an exchange of information and experiences between national coordinating committees on disability or similar bodies, at the regional level;
4. Urges the Secretariat, in particular the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs and the Department of Technical Cooperation for Development, and the specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations and the United Nations Development Programme to play a major role in assisting Member States, in particular the least developed among them, to establish and strengthen national coordinating committees or similar bodies;
5. Invites the Secretary-General to use resources available in the Voluntary Fund for the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons to assist Member States in setting up and strengthening national coordinating committees or similar bodies;
6. Calls upon Member States to establish national coordinating committees or similar bodies on a permanent basis and to provide them with the necessary staff and resources during and after the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, bearing in mind that their structure and methodology of work should be in conformity with the circumstances of the countries in which they are situated;
7. Recommends that the Secretary-General include the activities undertaken in relation to the Guidelines in future reports on disability-related programmes, and requests him to report to the Commission for Social Development at its thirty-third session on the implementation of the present resolution.
12th plenary meeting 30 May 1991
1991/9. United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons
The Economic and Social Council,
Recalling its resolution 1989/52 of 24 May 1989, in which it called upon Member States, the bodies and organizations of the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to further the practical implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons,18 adopted by the General Assembly by its resolution 37/52 of 3 December 1982, during the second half of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons, based on the list of priorities and programmes set forth in the annex to Assembly resolution 43/98 of 8 December 1988,
Recalling also General Assembly resolution 45/91 of 14 December 1990, in which the Secretary-General was requested to shift the focus of the United Nations programme on disability from awareness-raising to action, with the aim of achieving a society for all by the year 2010 and of responding more appropriately to the many requests for assistance and advisory services,
Noting with appreciation the recommendations of the meeting of experts held at Jarvenpaa, Finland, from 7

to 11 May 1990, under the joint auspices of the Government of Finland and the United Nations,20
Concerned about the very difficult situation of disabled persons living in developing countries and the vulnerability of disability-related programmes and projects, particularly during periods of economic restructuring,
Taking note with appreciation of the report of the Secretary-General on major issues and programme activities of the Secretariat and the regional commissions relating to social development and welfare and specific social groups,12
1. Welcomes the initiative taken by the Commission for Social Development in the elaboration of standard technical rules on the equalization of opportunities for disabled persons;21
2. Calls upon Member States, regional commissions, intergovernmental bodies and other relevant organizations, in cooperation with organizations of disabled persons, to adopt an integrated policy approach to disability issues as part of the overall efforts to attain a sustainable social development strategy;
3. Requests the Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat to support pilot projects aimed at designing integrated disability policies in developing countries and to seek voluntary contributions for that purpose;
4. Invites Member States to review their policies and programmes with the aim of designing national annual priorities until the end of the United Nations Decade of Disabled Persons in 1992 and concrete long-term strategies to ensure the full implementation of the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons beyond the Decade;
5. Requests the Secretary-General to encourage the establishment of working groups funded by voluntary contributions to study and compare the implementation of national priorities;
6. Requests Member States to give concrete support to the efforts of the Secretary-General to develop activities benefiting disabled persons on a sustainable basis in countries with a special need for international support, particularly developing countries;
7. Recommends that a meeting of experts, to be funded by voluntary contributions, be held in conjunction with the conference entitled "Independence 1992", to be organized in Canada by the British Columbia Pavilion Corporation, in cooperation with Disabled Peoples' International and other interested non-governmental organizations, with the primary objective of drawing up a long-term strategy to implement the World Programme of Action concerning Disabled Persons to the year 2000 and beyond;
8. Invites Member States to provide financial and technical support for the efforts of the Secretary-General to develop an international information network at the United Nations Office at Vienna;
9. Recommends that the General Assembly, at its forty-seventh session, devote four plenary meetings to
20 Sec A/4.V470.
•' Sec Official Records of the Economic and Social Council 1991 Supplement No. 0 (H/1WI/26), chap. 1, sect. I), resolution 32/2.

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