International Forum on the Human Rights of Persons with Disabilities (A Pre-Conference Event)
Forum Philosophy | Theme | Registration | Dialogue Leaders
April 27, 2013: 8:30am – 5:30pm, Hilton Hawaiian Village
Tapa
Tower, Honolulu Room
Honolulu, HI
Registration Fee: $95.00 (Conference fees include meals)
The Forum Philosophy
“A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality.”
—Yoko Ono, Grapefruit: A Book of Instruction and Drawings
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 individual and collective human imagination and action is what makes it happen.
2013 Theme: Imagining a Barrier-Free World
“Everything you can imagine is real.”
—Pablo Picasso
“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.”
—Albert Einstein
This year the Forum’s central theme is: “Imagining a Barrier-Free World.” This overarching theme will be discussed through conversations dedicated to the actualization of the CRPD as it relates to children, accessibility, economic, political, social and cultural rights, including access to a meaningful education and employment. With our stellar cast of Forum leaders and facilitators, our intent is to share our individual and collective brilliance, which will culminate into a personal and collective action plan.
The essential question is this: What can we do and what are we willing to do to move our world forward to barrier-free landscapes of opportunity and freedom from fear and exclusion?
Listening and Networking Plan: Be prepared to hear from global leaders on how they are promoting greater access and justice to the hundreds of millions of people with disabilities. Be mindful that different stakeholders may have different viewpoints. Be alert to the many pathways available in finding solutions to the immense challenges we face collectively and individually. Be open to sharing your thoughts and ideas with others at the Forum.
Action Plan: The Forum organizers will determine some key areas for small groups to focus on and after the discussion, each participant (thinking about the issue in their community/university/agency) comes up with a plan to accomplish ‘something’ that creates a change. Along with the plan, would be strategy and implementation. As one of our Forum leaders quips, “it doesn’t have to be earth shaking’ but it should shift direction”. We don’t want to give away all the details just yet but it will be a productive day!
Registration
Registration includes breakfast and lunch, a conference bag with Forum materials, readings and books. If that is not enough, we have a Forum party in the evening!
PLEASE NOTE: due to recent problems with fillable PDF documents—we recommend downloading and saving forms—and opening / filling in Adobe Acrobat or Reader. Please email completed forms to: prreg@hawaii.edu.
International Forum Registration Form [PDF Format | Doc Format]
Forum Leaders
Dr. Safaa Mahmoud Issa Abdou is a Fulbrighter who performed Research work on “Accessible, Affordable Housing for Physically Disabled Individuals and its application to Egypt” at SUNY at Buffalo, summer and fall 1994, and at The Center for Accessible Housing in Raleigh, North Carolina State University, summer 1993. Learn more
John Wodatch is a disability rights attorney who recently retired after 42 years of Federal government service. He authored the Federal government’s first comprehensive disability rights regulations, the regulations implementing section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. He is one of the drafters of the Americans with Disabilities Act as he served as the Department of Justice’s chief technical expert during the writing and passage of the ADA. Learn more
Dr. Kamal Lamichhane is a researcher at the research institute of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Tokyo. He did his postdoctoral work under the prestigious fellowship of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) of the Government of Japan for two years from April 2010. Dr. Lamichhane is also associated with the Barrier-Free Project (BFP) and Research on Economy and Disability (READ) of the University of Tokyo and is an affiliated researcher of research center for advanced science and technology (RCAST) of the same University. 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...
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...
Connie Laurin-Bowie is the Executive Director of Inclusion International where she leads the organization’s strategic and financial operations across 200 national member organizations in 115 countries. Connie has over 10 years of experience in international development, working with the United Nations, the World Bank, and governments in every region of the world. Learn more...
Joel Snyder is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the American Federation of TV and Radio Artists, and the Screen Actors Guild, and he is a 20-year veteran of the National Endowment for the Arts where he coordinated funding for the nation’s arts presenters. Throughout his NEA tenure, he worked closely with the Office of AccessAbility to build access to all art forms for people with disabilities. Learn more...
Gopal Mitra works as a Programme Specialist—Children with Disabilities in the Disability Section, Programme Division at UNICEF HQ since March 2012. As part of the Disability Section’s mandate, his work involves mainstreaming disability across UNICEF’s policies and programmes. He also supports UNICEF’s engagement with the Inter Agency Support Group on Disability and with the UN Partnership on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Multi-Donor Trust Fund. Within the Disability Section he acts as the focal point on inclusive humanitarian action, assistive technology and on adolescents and young people with disabilities. Learn more...
Steven E. Brown, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor, Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawai‘i, Manoa and Co-Founder, Institute on Disability Culture. He earned a 1981 doctorate in history at the University of Oklahoma. He currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator for EmployAble: A World without Barriers, a Virtual Employment Orientation and Resource Center; site coordinator for the Pacific Alliance Partnership for the Windward side of O‘ahu and the Mentoring Coordinator for the project; a Core Faculty member in the Center on Disability Studies Disability and Diversity Studies program; and Media Reviews Editor for the Review of Disability Studies: An International Journal. Learn more...
Mark Starford directs Board Resource Center (BRC) which provides best-practice leadership development for nonprofit organizations, advocacy groups and government agencies that serve persons with disabilities and their families. BRC provides training and facilitation support, technical assistance, adapted plain language multi-media materials to ensure full participation in governance, self-direction and informed decision making. Learn more...
Dr. Jean Johnson is the Acting Director of the Center on Disability Studies at the University of Hawai‘i and is the Principal Investigator on a number of grants. Her bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee is in deaf education and her master’s degree from Northwestern University in Audiology. She holds a Master of Public Health, with a specialty in maternal and child health, and a Doctorate in Public Health from the University of Hawai‘i. Learn more...
Daniel “Nane” Alejandrez—Escalating problems of violence, crime and social breakdown among young people cry out for meaningful programs and sound policies. Although the United States has the highest rate of incarceration in the developed world; media and policy makers continue to remain oriented toward punishment strategies. Learn more...
Stephanie Ortoleva, an international human rights lawyer, is the President and Founder of Women Enabled, Inc., which advocates and educates to advance the rights of women and persons with disabilities, with a special focus on women and girls with disabilities, in collaboration with organizations of women and girls with disabilities worldwide. Women Enabled, Inc.also engages with multilateral organizations, governments, NGOs, among others and conducts precedent-setting legal and policy research. Learn more...
For more information, please contact Robert Stodden at stodden@hawaii.edu or Charmaine Crockett at cccrocke@hawaii.edu.
