Bosnia and Herzegovina Prime Minister Terzic and Special Olympics Chairman Shriver sign "Document of Understanding"
Special Olympics’ Changing Attitudes, Changing the World Policy Forum on 5 March convened policy leaders in Nagano to discuss the rights of people with intellectual disabilities and, in particular, the policy ramifications of the United Nations Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities.
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(Left-right) Special Olympics Bosnia and Herzegovina Chair Mirsada Hukic, Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver and Bosnia and Herzegovina Prime Minister Adnan Terzic sign the Document of Understanding at the Changing Attitudes, Changing the World Policy Forum in Nagano, Japan. (Photo by Stephen Corbin, Special Olympics) |
Ambassador Luis Gallegos of Ecuador, former United States Surgeon General Dr. Antonia Novello, Prime Minister Adnan Terzic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a panel that included people with intellectual disabilities and policy experts reflected on the UN Convention and intellectual disability rights.
Following keynote addresses, panelists discussed the overall disability rights movement, the role of people with intellectual disabilities in self-advocacy, and the role of Special Olympics in improving the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Michael Stein, Visiting Fellow, Harvard Law School and disability rights expert, moderated a panel that included Gerard Quinn of the National University of Ireland Faculty of Law, Ngase Osamu of Tokyo University, Special Olympics Vice President for Government Relations Michael Brogioli, Special Olympics athlete Loretta Clairborn, Yae Abe, an activist with Inclusion Japan, and Special Olympis Asia Pacific President Dicken Yung.
Ambassador Gallegos emphasized the draft UN Convention’s vision of a just and peaceful world that includes and values people with disabilities. “As the starting gun went off in each of the competitions of this important world Olympic event, let us hear the ‘bang’ for the larger race in which we are all running, and the race in which Special Olympics is an important marker: the race for full, effective, universal human rights protection for all persons, regardless of disability,” said Gallegos.
In a first-of-its-kind agreement, Prime Minister Terzic and Special Olympics Chairman and CEO Timothy Shriver signed a “Partnership for Change” agreement that highlights the commitment of Bosnia and Herzegovina to promote opportunities for people with intellectual disabilities by strengthing the Special Olympics movement < read the agreement, Adobe PDF, 366K >. “The 2005 World Winter Games in Nagano have given the world powerful examples of how everyone can take actions to change attitudes and change the world. We must continue to tear down barriers to inclusion and promote human rights for people with intellectual disabilties around the world,” said Prime Minister Terzic.
“Special Olympics is a movement of empowerment and dignity, not of charity,” said Shriver. “It is a movement that asks people throughout the world, from a local volunteer to a head of state, to take the athlete’s lead — to go forward with courage, find your own potential, welcome differences and celebrate the gifts of all people.”
To find out more about the United Nations Convention on Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, visit www.un.org/esa/socdev/enable/rights/ahcwgreportax1.htm.
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