[governance] IGF, MAG, and the CRPD

[MMKovary at aol.com]

Dear All,
 
I would hope that the IGF and MAG would be interested in disability access  
issues as well and would consider further networking with persons with  
disabilities with regard to the new Convention on the Rights of Persons with  
Disabilities (CRPD).   We have recently launched a new  International Network of 
Women With Disabilities (INWWD) in Quebec in August  2008.   We are still in the 
process of getting ourselves organized,  but I would hope that we might also 
contribute to the UN mission.  I  am one of the moderators of the new listserv 
and it is clear to me that  internet governance issues are interfering with our 
process.  We set up our  listserv with Yahoo Groups by default.  We also have 
a working group that  is connected with the International Disability Caucus 
for Indigenous  Persons with Disabilities.  The IGF and MAG should be 
networking more  closely with the International Disability Alliance (IDA) and the 
International  Disability Caucus (IDC).  IDA has an IDA CRPD Forum with Yahoo 
Groups  listserv and also a Steering Committee that communicates via Yahoo Groups.  
 The IDC also has a listserv on Yahoo Groups.  There are also several other  
large umbrella organizations that lobby for the rights of persons with  
disabilities, including Rehabilitation International (RI), the Survivors Corp  
(formerly the Landmine Survivors Network) and Handicapped International  (HI).  To 
my knowledge, all these umbrella organizations are connected with  the 
International Disability Alliance.
 
I find the disability rights issues to be very much front and center in the  
world right now.  Disability cuts across all the usual dividing lines and  
affects almost every single individual directly and probably every single human  
alive at least indirectly -- via family members, friends, costs of 
accessibility  vs the human cost of inaccessibility, etc.  We are making significant  
progress on the disability access issues regarding the internet with respect to  
the UN website and with respect to the design and layout of buildings all 
around  the world.  I hope the internet governance issues will also be pushed  
forward by including our agenda of non-discrimination, reasonable accommodation,  
autonomy, etc.  For more information on the Convention on the Rights of  
Persons with Disabilities, please check out _www.un.org/disabilities_ 
(http://www.un.org/disabilities) 
 
There are also websites available for most of the organizations that I  
mentioned above.
 
Being new to this list, it is not clear to me yet what has been discussed  
and what has not.  I sincerely hope this information is of value to the  group.
 
I'm happy to be a new member,
Myra Kovary, M.L.A
_mmk29 at cornell.edu_ (mailto:mmk29 at cornell.edu)  
_www.myrakovary.com_ (http://www.myrakovary.com)  
- a UN Representative of MindFreedom International (MFI) 
_www.mindfreedom.org_ (http://www.mindfreedom.org)  
- a member of the World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry  (WNUSP) 
_www.wnusp.net_ (http://www.wnusp.net)  
- a founding member and moderator of the new listserv for the International  
Network of Women With Disabilities (INWWD)
- a founding member of the Ithaca Mental Patients Advocacy Coalition  (IMPAC)
 
In a message dated 1/22/2009 9:22:32 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jeremy at ciroap.org writes:
 
On  20/01/2009, at 6:58 PM, Ian Peter wrote:

> Do we agree with this  summary?

(Parminder's, snipped) - yes, entirely.

> The IGF  should be assured stable and sufficient public funding to be  
>  able to
> carry its functions effectively, and impartially in global  public  
> interest.

Clearly yes.  To be frank, nobody  takes the IGF seriously - even  
friendly civil society people in the  ICT space, unless they are on  
this list (and sometimes even then),  react with surprise when it is  
suggested that the IGF was once  intended to be something like a  
"public policy ICANN" rather than  just an annual symposium.  Properly  
funding it would not solve  that problem, but it would help.

> Our recommendations should  emphasize that the IGF needs its mandate  
> extended
> so  that it can evolve. The small secretariat with its direct  
>  connection to
> New York has been a successful arrangement that  provides  
> flexibility. I
> think it is important that no  other UN organization gets involved in  
> the
> IGF's  management.
>
> Any thoughts on this?

I entirely agree with  Milton that the interposition of the black box  
of the UN Secretariat  prevents the MAG from being adequately  
democratic, but on the other  hand I think Jeanette's main point was  
that we have only a fairly  thin link to the UN bureaucracy at present  
and that it certainly  should not be thickened.

-- 
JEREMY MALCOLM
Project  Coordinator
CONSUMERS INTERNATIONAL-KL OFFICE
for Asia Pacific and the  Middle East    

Consumers International (CI) is the only  independent global  
campaigning voice for consumers. With over 220  member organisations in  
115 countries, we are building a powerful  international consumer  
movement to help protect and empower  consumers everywhere. For more  
information, visit  www.consumersinternational.org.

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