International Forum on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities (A Pre-Conference Event): Advocating for Real Change
March 24 & 25, 2012: Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honolulu, HI
Registration Fee: $115.00 for both days (Conference fees include one and a half days of sessions, materials, Saturday
continental breakfast and lunch and light breakfast on Sunday)
The International Forum is co-sponsored by Spark M. Matsunaga Institute for Peace
Human Rights have the potential to transform human lives. But realizing the promise of rights enumerated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), as well as other international treaties, requires political will and the commitment of state actors, local government, and civil society, including grass roots and local communities. Our common vision—that each human being be treated with inherent dignity – is the foundation which inspires and facilitates the meaning of human rights standards, norms and procedures into transformative social change. The codification of rights lays the groundwork to realize an inclusive, equitable and just world; but human action is what makes it happen.
Advocacy is a key to bridging vision to that action.
The 2012 Forum seeks to engage participants in a lively discussion on key areas that support and facilitate the realization of fundamental human rights for hundreds of millions of persons with disabilities, as expressed in the CRPD.
Speakers and Dialogue Leaders (Please check back for weekly updates on the Forum)
George Kent is Professor Emeritus with the University of Hawai‘i. He was a professor in the Department of Political Science from 1970 until his retirement at the end of 2010. He currently teaches online as a part-time faculty member with the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Sydney in Australia and also with the Social Transformation Concentration at Saybrook University in San Francisco. Learn more...
Robyn Mourie is a Rehabilitation Assessor and Disability Advocate in Aotearoa, New Zealand and the Cook Islands. With 20 years of experience as a Physical Therapist and a Postgraduate degree in International Development Studies, this blending of backgrounds has taken Robyn into recent work developing an empowering, sustainable rehabilitation web matrix assessment and action plan. Learn more...
Charmaine Crockett is Special Projects Coordinator at the Center of Disability Studies where she Co-Chairs the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disabilities, manages a conference training outreach unit at the Center and drums up good local and global ideas for outreach and community participation. Previously, she worked in the area of human rights where she conducted human rights education trainings and enhanced the capacity of organizations in developing countries. Learn more...
Joakim Peter is the director of College of Micronesia—FSM Chuuk Campus, which is part of a six-campus junior college system in the Federated States of Micronesia. He is from the islands of Chuuk. He is also a member of a local interagency group for advocacy for children with disabilities in Chuuk. Learn more...
Risnawati Utami is a wheelchair user because of polio when she was 4 years old. She graduated from the Law School, Sebelas Maret University in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia. She spends most of the time to be an activist in the disability rights movement since 1999. She has been managing the diverse programs intervention related public health issues particularly reproductive health and disability to promote and to empower the rights of persons with disabilities. Learn more...
Juan Martín Botero is a wheelchair user because of Friederich’s Ataxia since 2005. He was born in Cali, Colombia, South America. He is a graduate from Los Andes University in Bogota, Colombia. And has a masters in liberal arts, focused in anthropology, at Harvard University, at Cambridge, MA, where he now lives. He is also enrolled in the Graduate Certificate Program on Disability and Diversity Studies, at the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Learn more...
Dr. Robert A. Stodden is a past president of the Association of University Centers on Disabilities (AUCD) board of directors. Professionally trained in Psychology, Special Education, and Rehabilitation, he has served more than twenty-five years as an international and national leader in the fields of special education, school to adult community living and transition, postsecondary education, and employment for persons with disabilities. Learn more...
Patricia Welch Saleeby, Assistant Professor, received her BA from Oberlin College, MSSA from Case Western Reserve University, and she has completed her Ph.D. at Washington University. Her professional areas of interest include social, health, and disability policy, disability and chronic conditions, health disparities, international health systems, and social and economic development. Learn more...
Manulani Aluli Meyer is the fifth daughter of Emma Aluli and Harry Meyer. She is from a large family with roots in Hilo and Wailuku, who grew up on the beach of Kailua, O‘ahu. She is an outdoor experiential educator and coach who entered the philosophy and teacher-education field because of the needs of our time. She earned her doctorate from Harvard researching Hawaiian epistemology, or an indigenous philosophy of knowledge. Learn more...
Keith Jones is the Founder, President and CEO of SoulTouchin’ Experiences. An organization aimed at bringing a perspective to the issues of access, inclusion and empowerment, which affect him as well as others who are persons with a disability. Mr. Jones is also extremely active in multi-cultural, cross-disability education and outreach efforts and, conducts trainings (including train the trainer) with the purpose of strengthening efforts to provide services and information to people with disabilities. Learn more...
Masayo Furui formed and became the executive officer for the Osaka Office of the Association for People with Cerebral Palsy Green Grass in 1973. In 1974, she formed and became chair for the West Japan Federation of the Association for People with Cerebral Palsy Green Grass. She was the leader of the All-Japan Preparation Caravan for the formation of the Nation Liaison Committee for the Liberation of People with Disabilities in 1975. Learn more...
Kiyoharu Shiraishi is a representative with the Fukushima Disaster Support Center for People with Disabilities. He is also the Chief Director of IL Independent Living Center, Fukushima. He established two CILs in Fukushima in 1994. He also founded a sheltered workshop “Kuebiko” in Kanagawa in 1981. Learn more...
Toru Furui obtained his doctorate degree from Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine in 2004. From 2004 to 2006, he served as Visiting Faculty at University of Pittsburgh, Human Engineering Research Laboratories. He received 2005 Best Post-doctoral Research Paper Award, from Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University of Pittsburgh (2005) Learn more...
Registration and Call for Propoals
- Registration Form [Doc Format | Fillable-PDF Format]
- Call for Proposals [Doc Format | Fillable-PDF Format]
For more information, please contact Robert Stodden at stodden@hawaii.edu or Charmaine Crockett at cccrocke@hawaii.edu.
