Note to Correspondents

PANEL ON FAMILIES, PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

 

TO TAKE PLACE AT UNITED NATIONS, 15 MAY

As part of the observance of the International Day of Families, a panel discussion on the issue of families and persons with disabilities will take place on Tuesday, 15 May, from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. in Conference Room 4 at United Nations Headquarters, New York.

“Families and Persons with Disabilities” is the theme of this year’s observance of the International Day.

The panellists are Megan Kirshbaum, Founder and Executive Director, National Resource Center for Parents with Disabilities, California, United States; Sue Swenson, Executive Director, The Arc of the United States, Maryland, United States; MiJoo Kim, Director, Women with Disabilities Arts and Culture Network, Seoul, Republic of Korea; and a representative of a Member State.

This year’s theme has been inspired by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol, which were adopted on 13 December 2006 at Headquarters, and opened for signature on 30 March 2007.

The Convention is the first comprehensive human rights treaty of the twenty-first century and the first human rights convention to be open for signature by regional integration organizations.

Family takes a significant place within the Convention, which states that persons with disabilities and their family members should receive the necessary protection and assistance to enable families to contribute to the full and equal enjoyment of the rights of persons with disabilities.

For many persons with disabilities, their respective families have been, and remain, a source of empowerment.  For others, the family has perhaps been overprotective, restricting their growth as individuals.  For others still, the family has viewed them with stigma or shame, and has even become a source of abuse and neglect.

The International Day of Families is observed on 15 May every year.  Proclaimed by the General Assembly in its resolution 47/237 of 20 September 1993, this annual observance reflects the importance the international community attaches to families regarding their situation around the world.

The International Day provides an opportunity to promote awareness of issues relating to the family as the basic unit of society and to promote appropriate action to recognize and promote the importance of families.

For further information, please visit www.un.org/esa/socdev/family or contact Franck Kuwonu, tel.:  212 963 8264, e-mail:  kuwonu@un.org; or Edoardo Bellando, tel.:  212 963 8275, e-mail:  bellando@un.org.

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For information media • not an official record