Wide participation vital in caring for disabled persons

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 ◆ Wide participation vital in caring for disabled persons

Resources from all sectors of the community, and not just the government, should be utilized to improve the quality of life of disabled people, experts said here at an international seminar.

Addressing the 20th DPI (Disabled Peoples' International) Asia and Pacific Regional Leadership Training Seminar, Venus M. Ilagan, chairperson of DPI Asia-Pacific Region, said that much progress has been made over the past decade in improving the lives of disabled people in this region.

Ilagan attributed the progress partly to a program launched by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in 1993 entitled "Asia and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons", which aimed at promoting cooperation between governments, international organizations and community organizations in caring for the region's disabled people. Of the world's 600 million disabled people, said Ilagan, 60 percent are living in the Asia-Pacific Region.

Deng Pufang, chairman of the China Disabled Persons' Federation (CDPF), said at the seminar that most Asia-Pacific countries are developing nations with limited resources on hand to spend on disabled people. Therefore, it is essential to mobilize all available resources to improve the quality of life of disabled people.

The four-day conference is expected to draft an action plan on improving the caring and well-being of disabled people in the Asia-Pacific Region in the new millennium.