By Matthew Russell Lee
UNITED NATIONS, July 17, updated 8:30 pm -- The Convention of the Rights of People with Disabilities press conference on Wednesday started late, and when it went Kenya's Ambassador Macharia Kamau criticized the UN for not being accessible to the disabled, having “no inkling” how to serve their needs.
Since the UN has spent $2 billion on a Capital Master Plan rehabilitation, Inner City Press asked Macharia Kamau if he thought member states had been consulted enough on this issue, and if anything can be done to make better accessibility plans for the General Assembly, recently closed for renovations.
He replied that things can and must be done better. Minutes later, Inner City Press put the same question to UN spokesperson Martin Nesirky, who responded with a lengthy Note to Correspondents mass e-mailed to the UN press corps, which should be online here.
Inner City Press still awaits an answer to its question about a pending disabilities Bulletin or instruction that would come from Secretary General Ban Ki-moon -- who recently rescinded such a Bulletin on workers rights and staff relations.
Also on the panel was UN official Daniela Bas. Inner City Press asked her about a recent EU Court of Justice decision criticizing her native Italy for not living up to its responsibilities under the disabilities convention.
She said she couldn't answer that, since she has been working at the UN and not in the Italian foreign service for two years. So who will answer? The court decision is described here.
The Free UN Coalition for Access has asked the UN in Geneva, via @FUNCA_Questions, to describe steps it has taken for accessibility, beyond the US Americans with Disabilities Act which the UN in New York now says it complies with (while also claiming immunity). We'll see.
Footnote: The Free UN Coalition for Access thanked all the panelists, including Maria Soledad Cisternas Reyes, chair of the Commission on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Javed Abidi of Disabled Persons International, for the briefing. The word “Access” in FUNCA can and does mean many things. Watch this site.
Update of 8:30 pm -- after 8 pm, the following came in:
From: UN Spokesperson - Do Not Reply [at] un.org
Date: Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 8:17 PM
Subject: Your question on accessibility
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Date: Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 8:17 PM
Subject: Your question on accessibility
To: Matthew.Lee [at] innercitypress.com
Further to your questions on accessibility today, we can confirm a Secretary-General's bulletin on accessibility for persons with disabilities in the UN is being developed.
We'll have more on this.
